Proposed Chatham County budget unveiled

Posted Tuesday, May 13, 2008

 E-mail this page    Printer-friendly page

Pittsboro, NC - The Chatham County Manager’s Office has released the proposed county budget for 2008-09, which includes a 5.5-cent property tax increase to 67.2 cents.

“This increase is necessary to address the most pressing demands resulting from population growth, even though we are painfully aware of the need to keep any tax increase as low as possible for residents,” said County Manager Charlie Horne.

“We worked hard to limit the property tax burden, but the economic downturn is affecting county government as well. While this region of the state is faring better than most, the economy has impacted our revenue sources when the need for county services and facilities is on the increase,” Horne said.

The proposed budget illustrates that 70% of the county’s budget is mandated by the state or federal government. “Making major cuts is difficult. In most cases, they mandate that we provide the service, but don’t dictate exact dollars. However, 12% of our total budget reflects services that we are required to fund at specific levels,” Horne added.

Assistant County Manager Renee Paschal presented the budget to the Board of Commissioners at its May 5th meeting. She noted that sales tax revenues will only grow half as much as last year and the growth in the property tax base has slowed.

In addition, Paschal added that that both building permits and deed stamp collections have declined in the past few quarters. “This also means that impact fees collected to support school facilities also will be lower.”

The situation places a greater burden on the property tax to make up the difference, “even if we want to avoid doing so,” Paschal said.

The proposed 5.5-cent property tax increase would provide:

· 1.2 cents for school needs;

· 1 cent to create a capital reserve fund to help pay for park facilities;

· 1 cent set aside to cover future debt payment for water system construction; and

· 2.3 cents to support general operations of the county, including new personnel.

Several county fees would be adjusted as well to better reflect the actual costs of providing services, Paschal said. One of the most significant of these is an increase in the Solid Waste Fee from $81 to $91 per household (paid in unincorporated areas only) to accumulate funds to build a new waste and recycling collection center.

Other fee increases are for such services as permits for temporary food vendors (a state-mandated increase), wells, fire inspections and related services, and specific building permit fees for moving houses or changing contractors.

The budget recommends increases in tax rates for four of the 12 fire districts, based on their budget needs:

· Circle City (Pittsboro): 2-cent increase to open a new fire station on Old Graham Road;

· Goldston: 1-cent increase to convert a half-time position to full-time;

· Staley: 0.62-cent increase to revert back to last year’s rate, which had been reduced due having a larger fund balance at that time; and

· West Sanford: 0.90-cent increase (the county staff is awaiting additional information on this proposed increase).

The largest category of funding is public education (K-12), which is true in most counties across the state. Its share of the overall budget is 35%. The proposed budget provides:

· Full funding of school facility projects in the adopted Capital Improvement Plan. Projects slated for construction this year are: asbestos floor removal ($130,000), bleacher replacement ($125,000), camera security system ($274,566), expansion of North Chatham cafeteria ($434,000), renovation of high school science labs ($152,400), restroom renovations ($209,000), and renovation of the wastewater system at JS Waters ($25,000).

· A 5% increase in funding for capital outlay (facility renovations, equipment, etc.).

· A 5% increase in teacher salary supplements.

· A 7.3% increase in overall funding for current expenses.

As to other county functions, the Sheriff’s Office would gain seven new staff positions, including four positions to enhance jail security, two civil officers and one narcotics investigator.

Two positions will staff a new Community Development Department, which will coordinate the functions of planning, central permitting, sedimentation & erosion control, and environmental resources.

“Given the major land use and environmental initiatives underway that will require extensive collaboration across these functions, we felt that it was important to provide centralized leadership,” Horne said.

The budget also includes funding to initiate the process of getting county salaries closer in line with surrounding local governments. The funds will bring all employees up to at least the minimum of their salary grade. However, any additional salary adjustments have been postponed until at least the next fiscal year or when the economic conditions improve, said Paschal.

Non-personnel items in the proposed budget include: enhanced radio communications for the Sheriff’s Office, a camera security system linking the jail and courthouse, website access to audio proceedings of Board of Commissioners meetings, increased in-home assistance services for seniors through the Council on Aging, an emergency generator and servers for storing and securing county data, and software to increase efficiency in human resources and animal control.

The Board of Commissioners will hold work sessions on the proposed budget on: May 19 at 1 pm; June 2, immediately following its regular board meeting; June 3 at 8:30 am; and June 5 at 8:30 am. Meeting sites have not yet been determined.

Public hearings on the budget are slated for:

· May 19, 6 pm, Superior Courtroom, Pittsboro

· May 22, 7 pm, Siler City Courtroom, Siler City

To view the detailed budget, visit the county web site.