As mayor, I'm happy to report that your Town Council has been very productive since my last update to you several months ago.

At this time every year the main discussion in and around Town Hall is about the budget that took effect on July 1. By now you probably already know that we held the line on taxes for the 19th year in a row by setting a "revenue-neutral" rate of 33 cents, which means the town will take in about the same amount of property-tax revenue in the coming year as we did before this year's countywide re-evaluation.

This was very challenging given the slow economy and still wanting to make good progress on things important to the community. It was also difficult and will likely only get harder next year because Cary voters have approved more than $232 million in streets and parks bonds over the last 10 years, bonds that had a projected tax-rate impact of 12 cents. None of which have been added to the tax rate yet.

As you can imagine, this "perfect storm" resulted in many hours of debate and re-evaluation of current and proposed projects and priorities.

As a result, we cut or postponed $25 million in capital projects to allow additional debt capacity, some cushion to our general fund reserve and to hold the tax rate at revenue neutral. At the same time we funded key projects to allow us to maintain a high standard of living and to improve certain needy areas of our community.

One of those major projects is renovating the historic old Cary Elementary, which is at a point of major infrastructure failure if renovation doesn't occur soon.

Also funded is the Downtown Streetscape project, which already had $7 million appropriated from previous councils. The streetscape project is the first step in the critical revitalization of our community's core and addresses major infrastructure needs.

Another key component of this budget is the repaving of much of Cary Parkway. In fact and in response to your concerns, we increased our commitment to transportation from $28 million last year to $49 million this year.

This year's budget keeps Cary fiscally strong, with all major bond rating agencies giving us their highest rating. The staff and council are committed to protecting our financial position while improving our quality of life.

A few additional notes:
On May 8 we approved changing our weekly "lug the bin to the curb" recycling program to a biweekly roll out cart program. The change will take place next spring once new trucks and rollout carts have been obtained.

After the initial investment is recovered, rollout recycling should save the town over $500,000 each year while allowing Cary residents to recycle additional materials such as junk mail, phone books, and chipboard.

On June 16 the General Assembly gave Cary the authority to use the Internet for public notices instead of the newspaper. This will save more than $20,000 a year in advertising and allow us to reach more of our citizens since about 96 percent have Internet access as opposed to 75 percent that receive the newspaper. Expect our shift to the Web to also take place next spring.

One more important item: Gov. Mike Easley announced June 26 that water resources are likely to be strained again this summer. As mayor, I'm asking each one of you to keep our culture of conservation strong by using outdoor water wisely and only as you absolutely need it. It's clear throughout North Carolina that you are the conservation model for all others. Keep up the great work.