Tyrone’s proposed $5.3 million budget for next year has caused some serious pencil sharpening among the town’s staff.

While the budget does not anticipate a tax increase, Town Manager Barry Amos said the budget will not be able to rollback the total of the reassessments. The practical effect of that is a slight tax increase, since reassessed property values have risen for most town taxpayers.

The budget calls for five new employees; a police officer, a public works worker, a stormwater engineer, a part-time code enforcement officer and one secretary.

One of the items that concerned the Town Council during a Wednesday night budget session was rising fuel costs. The Police Department has budgeted $40,000 for fuel next year, but has already spent $36,000 this year.

“Is that increase enough?” wondered Councilman Gloria Furr.

Amos said the town is constantly monitoring fuel costs, and could do a mid-year budget adjustment if necessary.

Amos also informed the council that Tyrone was quickly closing in on build-out and the council would have to decide the larger question of what services the town would be able to offer the residents.

“We’ve got about 9,000 acres left and our projected build-out population is 10,000. We’re at 6,500 right now,” he said.

The budget does include a 4.1 percent across the board cost of living increase for all employees. Last year’s budget was $5.1 million, and to balance this year’s budget, Amos said the town will have to use $481,000 from the town’s reserve fund because of declining revenues.

A public hearing on the budget is set for next Thursday at 7 p.m.

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