GRANITE QUARRY — Many of the members of the Granite Quarry Board of Aldermen do not want to raise taxes, a resolution that has been repeated throughout discussions on how to finance a new fire engine.

The town’s annual budget discussions continued during a special meeting on Monday, during which Acting Town Manager Jason Hord presented the aldermen with the top-down view of what the proposed budget currently looks like. Many of the proposed increases in the departmental budgets are substantial quality-of-life raises for town employees, which Hord said would bring the town more in line with the pay scales of similarly-sized municipalities.

The big-ticket item in the budget, however, is Hord’s request for a new fire engine for the town. The truck would be a replacement for one of the two 30-year-old engines currently in service, as the National Fire Protection Association recommends that trucks be retired after 25 years of service and that no engines older than 15 years should be the front-running apparatus. One of the issues with the purchase is that the town would have to wait four years after ordering the engine.

“By the time these fire trucks come in, the 30-year-old trucks will almost be 35 years old and the newer truck will be 15 years old,” said Hord during a budget workshop meeting on March 20.

Hord proposed the town finance the purchase through a five-year loan at six percent interest, which he said was the worst-case scenario. The payment in the first year would cost the town approximately $277,000 and payments would decrease in cost every year, leaving the town’s total investment at $1.2 million.

Hord’s proposed budget included a three-cent property tax increase to help the town pay for the increases, which included other projects or needs such as a new dump truck and the Granite Civic Park project. Each cent the town increases on the property tax represents $41,175 in new income, so three cents would raise the income by approximately $123,525.

“Why raise the hackles of the whole town by increasing taxes for $125,000?” said Alderman Rich Luhrs.

Currently, the board’s proposed budget includes a maximum of $1.2 million being appropriated from the unappropriated fund balance, which is funds the town holds in reserve in case there is ever a time where zero revenue is collected. The town’s policy requires a minimum of $1,213,000 and the town has approximately $2.7 million in the fund balance.

“I’d love to see us accomplish everything in this budget without raising taxes,” said Alderman John Linker, to which Mayor Pro Tem Doug Shelton and Luhrs vocally agreed.

Currently, the town sits at the third-lowest tax rate out of all the municipalities in Rowan County, at 44 cents. Only Cleveland at 30 cents and Faith at 41 cents are lower, while Rockwell is similar at 46 cents. However, Granite Quarry is substantially larger than the other two with approximately 3,000 residents to Faith and Cleveland’s approximately 800 residents, as of the 2020 Census.

After the discussion, the members of the board agreed to postpone the discussion to allow more time for consideration. Hord said during the March meeting that the budget discussions are currently running approximately a month ahead of schedule.