Bartow holds the line on 2012-13 budget | News

Bartow, Florida -- Bartow residents will pay slightly higher prices for water service in the coming budget year, but property tax rates will remain unchanged based upon a budget city leaders adopted this week.

Bartow's total budget is $57.3 million, with about $17.5 million used for daily operations. The rest is for projects and other expenses.

READ: Bartow's full budget report

To fund that, the city commission voted to keep property tax rates unchanged at $3.996 per $1,000 of property value. That means a $100,000 home with a $50,000 homestead exemption will pay about $200 in city tax.

To help keep costs down, Bartow leaders also said there would be no salary increases for city employees this year. There will also be a slight increase in water service costs of about 5.1 percent.