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eesburg Town Manager Kaj Dentler presented his proposed FY16 budget Feb. 24, including a recommendation to hold the real estate tax rate level. Dentler is proposing General Fund spending—which covers most town operations—of $52.2 million, a 5.4 percent increase. Holding the real estate tax rate at 18.3 cents would result in a slight tax hike for most property owners because of increasing assessment values. The average single-family homeowner’s tax bill would increase by less than $22, according to the town. The General Fund includes no new staff positions, but earmarks money to provide 3 percent raises to town employees. The biggest change for FY16 comes in the Capital Budget, which calls for spending $20.6 million, an increase of 48.2 percent. Transportation projects on the construction list include $3.6 million for the next phase of the South King Street Widening Project, $6.1 million to extend Battlefield Parkway from the Dulles Greenway to South King Street, and $2.5 million to extend Hope Parkway near Sycolin Road. Also in the capital budget fund are improvements to Catoctin Skate Park ($545,000) and additional funding for the downtown improvements ($2.7 million). In addition to employee raises, new initiatives in the budget include $42,000 for police overtime, $148,500 for capital project studies and $89,410 in technology upgrades. “We don’t want to give you budgets that aren’t real,” Dentler told the council. “This is the number and that’s what we’re going after… It’s your budget that I’m now passing to you.” Town Council is expected to begin overview and analysis of the spending plan at its March 9 work session. Adoption of the budget, the Capital Improvements Program and the tax rates is scheduled for April 14. There will be three work sessions and two public hearings to hammer out details in the meantime. Details on the proposed budget can be found at leesburgva.opengov.com. n
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Town Council entered into an agreement Feb. 24 with the Environmental Protection Agency to pay the civil penalty. According to the agreement, the town was penalized for a lack of records in certain periods from December 2010 to October 2012 as well as a failure to maintain cathodic protection to prevent corrosion of a 550-gallon underground waste oil storage tank. There was no environmental damage found at the plant. “That’s important,” Councilwoman Kelly Burk said. “We changed procedures so we won’t be fined again for something like this.” The sanctions weren’t brought down on the town until last October. The penalty will be paid from the FY15 Public Works operating budget. The facility, located along Rt. 7, was built in 1989 and an underground storage tank was built for waste oil. It’s usually good for 35 years or so, Director of Public Works Tom Mason said. He said the tank has been subject to regular checkups ever since and an April 30, 2012, test was the first to detect problems. Mason said repairs were made over a six-month period, but EPA rules state the town was in violation throughout the repair process. Continued on Page 13