Town Manager David Bone formally presented his budget to town commissioners last Monday, but his proposal was criticized even before he presented it.

Bruce Lynch presented commissioners with a petition signed by nearly 100 people, asking the board to return $200,000 to the budget for sidewalk repairs.

Bone had the money in the budget he originally presented to commissioners during a work session in April, but he took it out after some commissioners suggested the tax rate in the proposed budget was too high.

Lynch told commissioners that Wendell’s downtown attracted him to the town when he was trying to decide between relocating to Wendell or Knightdale.

Lynch, who lives downtown and owns commercial property in downtown, pointed to work done in Zebulon’s downtown to improve sidewalks in that town.

“We need to do that here,” Lynch said. Referring to the petition, Lynch said the signers were in favor of making an investment in the downtown.

Paul White, who also owns property in downtown Wendell, urged commissioners not to make the same mistake commissioners made 20 years ago.

“In 1987 or so, the town spent $120,000, but didn’t have enough money to finish the job.

"The $10,000 we saved has now cost us $250,000,” White said. Businesses, White said, need the town to invest in the downtown.

“If we don’t address the core of downtown, we might lose them. I’d hate to see us do a patchwork (job) in downtown,” White said.

Commissioners will hold a public hearing on the budget at their June 9 meeting. They could adopt a final budget at that meeting.

The proposal Bone presented to commissioners last week, calls for a tax rate of 49 cents per $100 of property valuation.

In this revaluation year, that would be tax increase of approximately 2.75 cents per $100.