Lake Hamilton budget to address infrastructure, parks

LAKE HAMILTON — Spending for streets, recreation and utilities are set to more than double next fiscal year for Lake Hamilton, according to a preliminary budget.

The single biggest increase will be for utilities as the budget would nearly quadruple from $1.2 million for the current year to $4.5 million for next year, which begins Oct. 1. The town is looking to replace its entire water system, but most of the funding will come from a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant.

“We're hoping to start that next fall,” Town Administrator Sara Irvine said. “We'll be expecting to break ground soon after that.”

About $2.85 million of the project will be funded through the grant. Irvine said some water lines in the town are as old as from the 1930s.

“A lot of them are small lines hooked up to larger ones,” she said. “That really diminishes the pressure and things like that.”

Recreation

The town's parks and recreation budget is expected to jump approximately 111 percent from about $126,000 to $266,000, but grant funding will take up a large portion of that. The town is expecting three $50,000 Florida Recreational Development Assistance Program grants.

“We don't have the grants yet, but we're applying for them,” Irvine said. “We're applying for grants to upgrade Sample Park, Gunter Park and the Detour Road ball fields.”

Streets

Funding for streets will go from about $384,000 to $847,000 — an increase of nearly 121 percent. Of that total, $715,000 will come from a Community Development Block Grant to address stormwater and drainage issues on the east side of the town near Lake Gordon. The town also plans on setting aside $40,000 for future road improvements.

"The roads have been ignored for a long time," Vice Mayor Mike Kehoe said. "We have roads near Town Hall that haven't been done in 30 years, but I've said we need to do the water lines first. I've seen government put in roads and tear it up soon after that to put in water lines."

According to Town Planner Doug Leonard, the priority areas will be in the center part of the town on Main Street. Improvements are planned from the north part of Main Street to Chicago Avenue and on Main Street from Second Street to Sixth Street.

“That would be a major one because we're putting in a major line and that has to be ripped up and put back together,” Leonard said. “Some roads will need to be widened. (Streets) will be paved to 22 feet if they're not already to width. Main Street will be 24 feet (wide).”

The total cost for those projects covering about 29,000 linear feet will be an estimated $380,000.

Sanitation

Another notable department to be increased is sanitation, which is set to increase by nearly 97 percent from about $179,000 to $352,000. That's for the town to purchase a new “claw truck” for picking up yard debris.

“Ours is very old,” Irvine said. “We're spending so much in repairs that it's not making sense any more.”

Taxes

The total proposed preliminary budget ranges from $8.27 million to $8.31 million based on tax rates. The higher number would be with the current property tax rate of $8.43 per $1,000 in taxable value. The smaller would be with a reduced rate of $8 per $1,000.

“I'd like to stay at (the current rate) for at least another year or two,” Irvine said. “That's ultimately up to the council.”

By keeping the same rate, the town would place more than $26,000 into reserves for the coming fiscal year.

"I've been on the council for five years and we have not increased or decreased taxes for five years," Kehoe said. "I've wanted to go below ($)8 (per $1,000). The time has come to get stuff done and reduce taxes. The fact that home values have gone up gives us that chance."

Notable decreases

Although several different budget lines will see significant increases, the town is making considerable cuts in wastewater and with the Lake Hamilton Police Department.

The wastewater budget is set to shrink from $865,000 to $56,000 — less than one-thirteenth of the current year's budget. That's because the town just took on a major project that ran sewer lines from Dundee to Lake Hamilton's business district on the west side of U.S. 27.

The Police Department budget will decrease by nearly 20 percent. This year with the help of grants, the town purchased seven new vehicles. The budget is set to go from $807,000 to $650,000.

“We don't have to purchase any new vehicles this year, but we will budget $40,000 like we do every year,” Irvine said.

Budget meeting

The Lake Hamilton Town Council is set to discuss the coming budget during a budget workshop at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. The meeting is held at Town Hall, 100 Smith Ave.

Mike Ferguson can be reached at Mike.Ferguson@theledger.com or 863-802-7445. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson.