Brentwood residents will see a lower property tax rate in fiscal 2010.

The 2010 budget the Town Council passed June 16 lowers the property tax rate from 44.3 cents to 38.2 cents per every $100 of assessed value.

Town Treasurer Orson Carter said revenues won't be affected with a lower rate because the town's property tax base is larger this year with the opening of businesses such as ezStorage at 4301 Rhode Island Ave.

"[They're] beginning to be taxed this year, and with that bigger base it's simple mathematics," Carter said.

The approved budget also includes an increase in money for traffic-calming devices, such as speed humps, from $3,000 last year to $15,000 in the new fiscal year. Town Administrator Peter Jones has said that the fiscal 2009 budget included money only for one speed hump, and that the increase in spending will allow the town to purchase more during fiscal 2010.

The budget includes $8,000 to pay for legal expenses to make charter revisions. Most recently, debate erupted over the town's charter leading up to May town elections, when one candidate's eligibility for election was denied based on qualifications in the charter. Residents and candidates said the charter needed revision.

Mayor Xzavier Wright said some town codes must be revised, such as one that prohibits the town's code enforcement officer from issuing parking tickets to people parked on grass. The county currently issues such tickets.

"The charter is very old, antiquated," Wright said. "It would probably take anywhere from three to six years to do the whole charter over."

The budget also allocates $20,000 for computer updates. Wright said the town's computers aren't networked, are old and lack needed software.

It also earmarks $44,391 for unforeseen contingences.

"That's just simply the amount we set aside in expenses in case something would happen," Carter said.

The Town Council voted 3-2 to approve the budget. Councilwoman Aneeka Harrison voted against the budget, saying that the spending plan the council voted on differed from the one presented during a public hearing a week before the vote.

The originally proposed budget was introduced by former Mayor Bettyjean Bailey-Schmiedigen before May, when Wright was voted into office.

The changes to the budget that Harrison cited include the addition of $20,000 for computer networking and the increase of the unforeseen contingency expense from the originally proposed $23,955 to $44,931.

"We're going through a recession, and I think everybody needs to be a little more fiscally responsible, and if we add certain things then we need to take things away," Harrison said.

-Traffic-calming devices: $15,000

-Computer networking: $20,000

-Brentwood Day and International Day: $11,000

-Salary of one code inspector: $29,027