The Front Royal Town Council approved the roughly $48 million fiscal 2023 budget on Tuesday to no fanfare.

Council members voted in favor of a motion to approve the town’s annual appropriation ordinance that sets the fiscal 2023 budget effective July 1 through June 30, 2023. The approved budget of $47,953,605 includes revisions that council members discussed at an April 11 work session. The revised version reflects the elimination of the town’s building code department.

No one spoke during the public hearing held on the budget ordinance.

Vice Mayor Lori A. Cockrell and council members Gary L. Gillispie, Joseph E. McFadden, Amber F. Morris and Letasha T. Thompson voted in favor of approving the ordinance. Mayor Christopher W. Holloway attended the meeting but votes only to break a tie.

The budget includes spending the following amounts from separate categories: $12,071,200 in the general fund for government operations, public safety, planning and community development and information technology; $2,994,130 on streets, including the Department of Public Works and state highway maintenance; $360,000 for economic development; $382,815 on special revenue such as asset forfeiture awarded for police involvement in federal law enforcement operations and community development projects.

The budget also includes separate funds for town utilities: $19,615,720 for electric; $5,143,155 for water; $6,307,870 for sewer; and $1,069,035 for refuse collection.

Also at the meeting, council members voted to:

• Authorize the purchase of a pre-cast, pressure-reducing valve vault for Robinhood Lane from Core & Main, of Martinsburg, West Virginia, for $32,460; approve a bid from Bushong Contracting Corp., of Woodstock, to install equipment for $28,556; to purchase of dry-barrel fire hydrants from Core & Main for $31,153.

• Amend the current budget to add $2,251 from the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services Local Law Enforcement Block Grant Program to buy Tasers.

• Approve the Capital Improvement Plan.

• Approve a resolution recognizing R. Wayne Sealock for his 17 years of service on the Board of Zoning Appeals. Sealock’s term expires on May 1.

• Approve a resolution recognizing Front Royal Police Department Corp. Steven W. Mauck, who retires after 21 years of service in the department.

• Approve a resolution recognizing the Environmental Sustainability Advisory Committee — town arborist Jim Osborn, Jeremy Ray, Justin Proctor, Herschel Finch — and town staff members Lizi Lewis, John McDonald, Bob Hintz and Chip Hodges. Staff and ESAC members organized the town’s Arbor Day celebration held on Saturday and planted three river birch trees at the east end of Main Street.

• Nominate Andi A. Robinson to serve on the Board of Zoning Appeals for a five-year-term beginning May 1, and to submit her name to the Warren County Circuit Court judge for consideration of her appointment.

• Approve an update to the town’s employee handbook to add a “shift differential policy,” and to add $1 hourly to salaries paid to qualifying employees who work during a qualifying night shift. Qualifying employees include police officers, communications officers and water and wastewater operators. The town can cover the approximately $15,000 with funds saved through vacant positions and employee turnover.

• Approve a proclamation designating May-15-21 as Public Works Week.

• Approve a memorandum of understanding involving the town, Warren County, Valley Health System and the Northern Shenandoah Valley Substance Abuse Coalition to create a Drug Treatment Court Program.

Council members then met in closed session to discuss the council vacancy and to consult with legal counsel pertaining to probable litigation specific to the Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority.