Town annual report: utilities grow, taxes decline

By Kevin Olmstead

Published: September 12, 2008

Acting Town Manager Tom Huggard, who finishes up his eight-month tenure this week, presented the Annual Report for the fiscal year ended June 30 to Town Council Tuesday night.

Not surprisingly, the report, tracking data from July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008, highlights continued growth in most town departments though it appears the housing explosion of a few years ago is finished.

Town taxes, however, such as meals and lodging, were slightly down over last year.

“The town continued to grow at an approximate 3 percent rate, as certificates of occupancy indicate a population increase from 15,000 to 15,500 during FY08,” the report says.

Growth certainly attracts new business, the report goes on, but it also creates challenges for a town government “that wants to retain the 1993 acclamation as “One of the Best Small Towns in America.”

The Annual Report projects the town of Culpeper’s population could nearly double in this decade — the town’s population in 2000 was 9,664, equating to a 60 percent increase in less than eight years.

“FY08 brought a continued focus on improvement of town operations and planning for a growing community,” the Annual Report says, listing several large projects started in the past fiscal year like the ongoing sewer treatment plant upgrade, maintenance of the town’s older electric infrastructure, planning for a new police station and the introduction of a regional water and sewer authority with the county.

Here’s a look at some of the facts and figures included in the recent Annual Report for the town of Culpeper:
Town tax collections
Meals tax (90 restaurants)
* FY 2007: $1.95 million
* FY 2008: $1.92 million
Business licenses (912 issued)
* 2007: $1.23 million
* 2008: $1.20 million
Cigarette tax (1.89 million packs sold)
* 2007: $193,272
* 2008: $183,449
Lodging tax (nine establishments)
* 2007: $232,552
* 2008: $224,216
Real estate
* 2007: $863,000
* 2008: $1.09 million
(starting in FY08, the vehicle decal fee was absorbed into the town’s real estate tax)
Town utilities
Operating revenues
Waterworks
* 2007: $2.7 million
* 2008: $2.99 million
Sewer company
* 2007: $2.8 million
* 2008: $3.01 million
Electric company
* 2007: $8.36 million
* 2008: $9.17 million
Tap connection revenues
Water
* 2007: $1.94 million
* 2008: $1.76 million
Sewer
* 2007: $2.89 million
* 2008: $2.73 million
Residential Growth
Zoning permits: new construc-tion
* 2005: 958
* 2006: 790
* 2007: 546
* 2008: 333
Public Works
FY-2008 concrete replacement
* Curb and gutter: 1,199 lin-ear feet
* Sidewalks: 241 square yards
* Curb: 80 linear feet
* Handicap ramps: 16
* New sidewalks: 1,050 square yards
Garbage truck stops
* 2005: 4,125
* 2006: 4,941
* 2007: 5,023
* 2008: 4,852

Check out next week’s Star-Exponent and stay with starexpoent.com for facts and figures on the Culpeper Police Department from the FY08 Annual Report for the town of Culpeper.

Allison Brophy Champion can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 101 or .