MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — The owner of a residential property in Berkeley County worth $150,000 will pay an additional $21.42 per year based on a 3 percent levy rate increase approved Monday by the Berkeley County Commission.

The increase in levy rates for Class II (24.86), Class III (49.72) and Class IV (49.72) property for the 2010-11 fiscal year is the maximum adjustment allowed that doesn’t require a public hearing.

The rate increase is projected to generate $16.1 million in revenue for the county, up from $15.4 million in property taxes projected for the current fiscal year, according to figures presented by County Administrator Deborah Hammond.

The county’s total budget projected for the next fiscal year is $23.4 million, up from $22.3 million for the current year, according to Hammond.

The tax increase will help the county pay for $364,553 in additional expenses to operate, including $95,459 for the Public Employees Retirement System, $86,645 for employee health insurance, $49,872 for two additional members on the new county council and $120,000 more for day-to-day operations, Hammond said.

An approximate 17 percent drop in residential property values was mostly offset by new commercial property added to the tax books, but still left an overall 6 percent decrease in values, Hammond said.

Hammond said she expects residential property values to decline for at least two more years based on the three-year cycle of assessments.

“I think, in this economy, we owe it to the taxpayers in Berkeley County to keep the levy rate as low as possible,” Commission President Ronald K. Collins said.

The adjustment was especially important given that thousands of county residents could see substantial increases in their water and sewer bills in the near future, Collins said.

The utility increases are at least in part hinging on the outcome of a lawsuit filed in Berkeley County Circuit Court last fall.

A judge’s ruling in January that declared certain fees collected by the Berkeley County public service sewer and water districts to be illegal is being appealed to the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.

“Everywhere you turn, there’s increases in something,” said Commissioner Anthony J. “Tony” Petrucci, who noted the county’s high unemployment rate.

The commission’s levy rate increase comes a week after Martinsburg City Council’s Budget and Finance Committee recommended a 12 percent increase to the city’s levy rate.

A residential property in the city that is worth $200,000 would pay an additional $15.12 per year in property taxes if the adjustment is approved.

City leaders have said the rate increase was needed to plug a projected $500,000 hole caused by declining business and occupation revenue; and increases in health insurance, police and fire pension benefits, and grant reductions for police and fire.