ROCKINGHAM — City employees will get a 3 percent raise in the upcoming year — without an increase in taxes or fees.

The Rockingham City Council adopted its $18,o39,452 budget for the 2015-16 fiscal year Tuesday night, which gives the city’s 139 full-time employees a 3 percent cost-of-living adjustment.

There is also $713,700 appropriated for capital outlay expenses, a $119,881 increase from the previous year.

New recurring expenses include a $75,000 increase in health insurance premiums and a $24,000 increase in property, casualty and liability insurance.

Even with those increases, City Manager Monty Crump said there will be no increase in property taxes or fees for city residents. He added the last property tax increase was 16 years ago.

The three largest expenditures in the city’s general fund are the police department ($2,901,984), fire department ($1,214,612) and sanitation ($1,281,978.)

The next highest expense is $667,597 for recreation, which doesn’t include the increase in funding from the county. Last week, the Richmond County Board of Commissioners voted to increase its parks and recreation contribution to all five municipalities listed: Rockingham, Hamlet, Ellerbe, Hoffman and Dobbins Heights.

During the public comment period, Kim Hutchinson approached the council to request an ordinance to protect dogs in the city that are constantly caged and chained.

“I’ve seen quite a few…that you can understand they’ve been there a long time,” she said, adding dogs in those situations could develop a disorder from their conditions. “It’s like putting a person in prison in solitary confinement.”

Hutchinson said most of the dogs she’s seen in these conditions have been pit bulls and rottweilers, including one she said that looked like a pit that was kept in a 2-foot by 4-foot cage all day and all night.

“They have no freedom,” she said.

She also suggested that if dogs are tied out, they should be on harnesses and not just a collar.

When told to contact the police department, Hutchinson said she has made calls but was told as long as the dogs had adequate food, water and shelter, there was nothing officers could do.

Crump said the city’s animal ordinance was re-worked about a year and a half ago and said residents were allowed to chain their dogs up, but under certain regulations.

“We have to write ordinances that we think we can reasonably enforce,” he told her.

“It’s terrible, it’s cruel,” he added. “Though we agree with you, it depends on whether or not we have the legal authority to do so.”

Crump said a dog was taken from a home this past winter because of being left out in the cold.

Police Chief Billy Kelly told Hutchinson, “Give me an address, and I’ll look into it.”

The council also voted to:

• adopt a budget ordinance to close out the current fiscal year;

• adopt an ordinance to close out four completed projects; and

• appoint new Councilwoman Anne Edwards to the Richmond County Economic Development Corporation.

Reach reporter William R. Toler at 910-817-2675 and follow him on Twitter @William_r_Toler.