Albemarle residents will not see a tax increase if the proposed city budget passes.

The Albemarle 2019-2020 proposed annual budget recommends the property tax rate remain at 64 cents per $100 valuation.

“The city staff and I have worked extremely hard to strengthen cash reserves to allow the current capital path to be followed, but without the anticipated additional tax increase,” City Manager Michael Ferris wrote in his budget letter to the mayor and city council.

The annual budget is nearly the same in total as last year’s budget, around $70.4 million.

The Police and Fire departments account for 54 percent of the General Fund expenditures and total $9.2 million, an increase of $262,303, or 2.5 percent from the previous year, according to Ferris’ budget letter.

The increase is due to a number of acquisitions including two police vehicles, a mobile data terminal replacement in the police department, a vehicle exhaust system for the health and safety of the fire department staff at Station One and principal and interest payments for the self-contained breathing apparatus equipment replacement for fire suppression personnel.

A public hearing on the budget will be at 7 p.m. May 20. Copies of the budget for the public will be available at City Hall, at the Stanly County Public Library in Albemarle and on the city’s website, http://www.albemarlenc.gov.