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Supervisors tackle budget, taxes tonight
Board meets for work session, sets calendar for public hearing
County Supervisors will get down to business this evening as they begin
work on the 2009 budget that takes effect on July 1. Their work session
is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. in the public meeting room of the school
board on the first floor of the Mary Bethune Complex.
This year's budget totals $98.4 million, which represents a 5.25
decrease from the current year budget of $103.8 million. The decrease
is due to the completion of the $61 million school construction
program. However, despite the spending decline, the gap between
expected revenues and expenses is expected to approach $5.7 million.
In addition to increased funding for the schools, another $1.3 million
must be earmarked for landfill tipping fees and the cost of
transporting solid waste to the Mecklenburg County regional landfill.
The Industrial Development Authority is seeking an additional $182,793
and Social Services is asking for a $211,000 increase. Two new expenses
include $650,000 for capital projects and another $197,000 for debt
service for the transfer station.
Another first this year is the twice-annual collection of real estate
taxes, which means that one half of the real estate tax bills will be
due on June 5 and the remaining one-half will be due on December 5.
Due to the change in the tax collection schedule, the real estate tax
rate will have to be set earlier than in years past.
Because of this accelerated timetable, three public hearings are
scheduled over the next several weeks. A public hearing on the proposed
school budget is set for next Monday evening, March 17 at 6:30 p.m. in
the second floor meeting room of the Mary Bethune Complex. At that
time, Supervisors will work with the School Board on their budget. The
school trustees are asking for an additional $2,671,050 in local funds.
That amount represents a 20.17 percent increase over last year's local
funding of $13,242,430.
County Administrator Bryan Foster is recommending only a $693,000
increase for the schools.
School trustees are also asking for a pool of five percent to grant pay
increases to all employees. They expect no reduction in personnel from
the current year and include two new positions which are mandated for
special education.
On Monday night, March 31, Supervisors will host a public hearing on
the entire county budget. A third public hearing is set for Thursday,
April 3 to establish a tax rate for county residents. That will allow
Supervisors to adopt the 2008-09 fiscal year budget on April 7 and
formally set the tax rate at that meeting.
Foster is recommending an effective real estate tax rate of 48 cents
per $100 value, which may be lowered by County Supervisors if they can
find ways to cut projected expenses. Because of this year's
reassessment — which increases real estate values by some 15.9 percent
— the tax rate initially will be lowered to 41.5 cents to reflect the
impact of rising property values on revenue collections. Under state
law, localities must adjust their tax rates after a reassessments to
make the process “revenue neutral,” although local governments have the
option of raising the effective rate as long as the change is
advertised as a tax increase.
Each one cent increase in real estate taxes generates $358,182 and each
one cent increase in personal property taxes generates another $21,431.