By LARRY HILLIARD

Ledger Staff Writer

The Gaffney Board of Public Works could be facing as much as a $2.5 million shortfall in its proposed budget.

BPW General Manager Donnie Hardin said the gap depends on the number of projects the utility elects to do in the next fiscal year. By eliminating some projects, the shortfall could shrink to about $1 million.

Hardin said commissioners will bridge that budget gap by either raising rates or dipping into the utility’s reserve fund. Commissioners will discuss those options this weekend when Hardin unveils his proposed budget at the long-range planning workshop in Asheville, N.C.

If a rate hike is approved, it would be small, according to Hardin.

“It would be in the neighborhood of 1 percent,” he said.

Hardin described the proposed budget as “bare bones” because of a 2 to 3 percent dip in revenues caused by a milder-than-expected winter, the loss of industrial customers and a 1.8 percent increase in the wholesale price of electricity. The commissioners typically review the proposed budget at their workshop and vote on the spending plan at their monthly meeting in February.

The BPW’s new fiscal year begins April 1.