The Haymarket Town Council approved a $1.996 million FY 2011 budget last Tuesday with one council member abstaining and five voting for it.

On the revenue side, Haymarket residents are not being asked for more cash as taxes on real estate, cigarettes, vehicle licenses and restaurant meals are unchanged from their FY 2010 numbers. According to a report from town manager Gene Swearingen and treasurer James Naradzay, the lack of increase in the real estate tax "means" a $20,000 reduction in revenue coming into the town.

The overall budget is still 16 percent higher than last year, according to the report, because of the "increase in grant money" to the Street Scape project "for the coming year." Without that money, the operating budget is "actually" 5 percent lower than FY 2010 levels. "Additionally, most revenue categories have been increased to reflect the actual revenue totals from 2009/10," the report states.

"Well, I just think it was a smart budget. It was pretty conservative as far as spending," said council member Susan Edwards, who supported the budget. "We didn't raise the real estate taxes and I think our priorities are to continue moving forward with the town and continue making this a walking town."

Council member Bob Weir was the loan hold out on council, saying he chose not to vote "no" because "it was going to pass anway.

"I don't agree with it, I don't think it's the proper budget. I don't think the priorities are right," said Weir, specifically citing the town payroll as an "unknown" because actual figures are not into the town yet at a time when it is considering awarding raises to staffers by time of service instead of just merit pay.

Edwards disagreed.

"I think employees need to be able to count on things and I think it's just smart government," she said.

"My guess is we're going to amend (the budget) starting the first meeting of July," said Weir.

About $360,000 is expected to come in to the town coffers from the meals tax, and it will be a "key income source for the town and is unique because it is generally paid for by consumers from outside of town." This year marks the third calendar year in a row of the meals tax, which was originally intended to fund the Street Scape program. While that is still its primary function, money generated from that tax also is used to pay for infrastructure needs around town.

The nearly $36,000 expected to come in from Haymarket Day this year "is expected to cover the cost of Haymarket Day and help offset the cost of other events such as the Christmas Party, National Night Out and the Summer Concert Series" while Haymarket's Earth Day event "is also covered by sponsorship fees with no out-of-pocket cost" to the town, according to Swearingen and Naradzay's report.

Regarding spending, the town council allocated more money for town staffers than last year with increases in employer payroll taxes and processing fees, retirement contributions, health insurance and life insurance, the latter of which was missing from previous budgets. The budget report states that payroll spending is increasing by $37,000 from what projected as of June 30 of this year, the last day of the FY 2010 budget. The staff payroll line from FY 2010 was projected to be $10,359 over budget at the end of the month.

Haymarket slashed the part-time town planner's pay from $7,500 to $5,000 while giving the chief financial officer, Naradzay, an extra $5,000 from the last budget after he took a voluntary pay cut during the last budget cycle. The budget lists its overall total operating expenses for the upcoming year at just under $216,000, a nearly $50,000 decrease from last year's planned budget. Operational costs from FY 2010 actually ended up being projected to close at $295,000, which was over budget.

"It didn't turn out there was that much work," Weir said, referring to the work load of the planner Marchant Schneider.

"It's not that he's not needed, it's just that, you know, ... he's able to get the work done in a shorter amount of time," said Edwards.

Other notable increases in spending include $2,000 more for a police cruiser maintenance and $12,000 more for the Town Center.

Haymarket is also banking on a considerably lighter winter than before with only $4,000 being set aside for snow removal compared to $12,000 last year. The town debt service is expected to remain relatively flat at $126,000 being spent compared to the $122,000 projected to be spent by the end of FY 2010.

Weir took issue with what he said was the police department being short-changed while town events received greater funding.

"You can't say you're going to spend here because we didn't budget properly but not spending here because we didn't budget properly. What's good for the goose, alright?" said Weir.

"The residents like to have the events in town," Edwards countered. "We're working toward getting on the schedule for replacing cars. I still think there are a couple vehicles in the police department that we spend a lot of money on. I think their budget was still very conservative as well. We're still trying to limit overtime and we're trying to do the best with the police department we have."