Piedmont Council set to approve sales tax increase

The Piedmont City Council is set to  vote today on a $5.2 million budget, which includes revenue from a 1-cent sales tax.

The council is expected to hold one vote on the budget and another on the tax increase. City leaders said during a meeting Monday that Piedmont lost $200,000 in sales tax revenue in 2014 and that the new tax would bring in an estimated  $350,000  in 2015.

In the last budget year, which ended September 30, the city overspent by $283,000.  This year, Piedmont plans to give city departments the same amount of money, but is taking steps to keep from overspending.

Those steps include cutting annual pay increases for employees, a move that will save the city $80,000. Department heads said city workers will miss those raises, which they count on to keep up with the cost of living.  The city  is also trying to decide how it will manage increasing employee health insurance cost. In the budget discussed Monday, city administrators absorbed the increase, but Tuesday it

plans to vote on a measure that would pass a portion of the expense on to city workers.

If the measure is approved, employees will be charged $5 more per month for individual coverage and $20 more per month for family coverage. The change would cut another $40,000 in expenses from the city's budget.