CORINTH — Property taxes could rise about $54 for the average Corinth homeowner next year, if the City Council agrees to a $28.99 million budget as proposed for 2008-09.

A tax rate of .58698 cents per $100 valuation would be required to fund next year’s budget, about 3 cents more than the current rate, but almost a penny less than the rollback rate.

The city staff presented the proposed budget to the council during a budget workshop Thursday afternoon.

Council members bristled at the possibility of another tax hike, so much so, that at one point City Manager Don Locke had trouble moving through his presentation. Council member John Booher asked the other council members’ indulgence to hear the presentation with minimal interruptions.

“I know I could teach a class in budgeting, but unlike you all, this is my first time through this,” said Booher, who has advanced degrees in public administration and political science.

But having sat through budget overviews before, council member Shan­non Bryan was concerned that they always ran out of time in budget workshops to discuss additions, cuts and unmet needs. She worried that continued increases in the tax rate would hurt Corinth’s future development.

“We could make the infrastructure improvements and then the commercial won’t come because the taxes are too high,” Bryan said.

With a 3 cent increase, Corinth’s tax rate would likely still be lower than that of the neighboring cities of Denton and Lake Dallas.

Growth has slowed considerably in Corinth, with the city adding just 15 new homes and businesses last year. The proposed budget includes a $250,000 reduction in development-related income and a cut for a staff position in planning that the city won’t likely need.

With 70 percent of the city’s residential properties already built, but only 16 percent of commercial properties developed, about 80 percent of the property tax burden in Corinth falls on homeowners.

Still, two major projects being built — a hospital and an office complex — will add only an additional $68,000 to the general fund each year, beginning in 2009-10, according to the city’s director of finance, Kathy DuBose.

Some of the increase is needed to offset the sharp rise in fuel and utility costs expected next year, Locke told the council.

The fuel budget has skyrocketed from $165,500 three years ago to an expected $290,000 next year.

The newly acquired fire de­partment, though paid for in part by contracts with the other Lake Cities, brings an additional $134,776 impact to the budget.

The council will hold a series of workshops and public hearings on the budget between now and its adoption at the end of September. Locke told the council that city staff would postpone discussions on market increases for staff salaries for now, even though they average about 20 percent below market.

Former council candidate Lisa Clawson observed the workshop and was disappointed that the city staff hadn’t proposed any more cuts than two staff positions — one in planning and one in information technology. Those cuts were being used to fund a 2 percent cost-of-living increase for the rest of the staff, which, in turn, will likely be eaten up by an increase in health insurance premiums.

“Fuel costs have everyone cutting back,” Clawson said. “Why isn’t the city cutting back?”

PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE can be reached at 940-566-6881. Her e-mail address is pheinkel-wolfe@dentonrc.com .