There's no tax increase in the Fiscal Year 2011-2012 budget that County Manager Cary McSwain presented to the Board of Commissioners during their Tuesday, May 3 meeting -- and, despite a threatened $12 million shortfall in school funding, there's no additional money for Moore County Schools [MCS].
If you needed a single word to describe McSwain's budget, it would be "flat" -- at least when compared to the budget the Commissioners approved for the current year.
Last June, the Commissioners approved a General Fund budget of $85 million. This year, McSwain is recommending $85 million. Last year, the County budgeted $26 million for schools; this year, McSwain is recommending $26 million for schools. Last year, the County budgeted $4 million for Sandhills Community College [SCC]; this year, McSwain is recommending $4 million for SCC.
Last year, the County allocated $13 million for public utilities; this year, McSwain suggests spending $13 million on public utilities.
Last year, the Commissioners set the tax rate at 46.5 cents per hundred dollars of valuation, plus two cents for advanced life support. This year, McSwain is recommending a tax rate of 46.5 cents per hundred with a two cent per hundred advanced life support levy.
$3.1 Million for Schools Not Included in Budget
Just two weeks ago, Moore County Schools Superintendent Dr. Susan Purser came to the Board of Commissioners asking for $3.1 million in additional funding for FY2011-2012 school year to help offset $12 million in expected funding cuts and costs shifted from the state to local school boards.
Meeting the schools' request would require a 2.7 cent increase in the property tax levy, predicted McSwain, who said he hopes cuts to state education funding will be “less severe” than Purser expects.
“The schools and County have cut deeply over the last two years” and “are at the mercy of the General Assembly,” McSwain said. The manager's budget includes a total of $32 million in funding for the public schools, which amounts to just under 45 percent of the County's General Fund expenditures. About $6 million of that total goes to the debt service on school bonds approved by the voters to fund school construction.
Outlook from the state uncertain
The General Assembly continues to wrangle with a difficult state budget that could impact tax revenues and expenses at the county level. With the state budget process in flux, McSwain told the Commissioners that he had relied on the best available information to project revenues for the FY2011-2012 fiscal year.
Commissioner Tim Lea said he had spoken with Senator Harris Blake and Representative Jamie Boles, who both said they are trying to prevent a “roll down” to the counties of unfunded mandates and have set June 1 as a deadline to complete the state budget. However Boles and Blake both predicted that Democratic Governor Beverly Purdue may veto any proposed budget approved by the new Republican majority in the General Assembly.
Property Taxes Will Not Increase
Property taxes will not increase under the new budget, McSwain told the Board, but will remain at 46.5 cents per $100, which should bring in $50.6 million in FY 2011-2012.
Sales tax revenue has declined since the economic downturn in 2008, but is expected to increase modestly next year, providing the county with approximately $10.3 million in revenue.
Utility rates would also remain the same under the proposed budget, McSwain said.
Budget Work Session Thursday
McSwain's proposed budget will come under closer scrutiny by the Board of Commissioners in a work session on Thursday, May 5 at 4 pm at the Agricultural Center in Carthage. A final decision on the budget is expected on Tuesday, June 7, with a public hearing scheduled for Tuesday, May 17 at 6 pm at the Historic Courthouse in Carthage.
Special Meeting Scheduled on Pine Forest
As of April 25, the Planning Board has matched seventy-seven speakers with sixty-six attachments of evidence presented during extensive public hearing on the rezoning request for the proposed Pine Forest development, and has divided them into three categories: proponent, opponent, and neutral, Planning Director Joey Raczkowski told the Commissioners during Tuesday's meeting.
“The time invested in this activity will ensure that we have produced a comprehensive quick reference listing of all speakers, issues, and evidence as we develop the ‘findings of fact’ associated with this case," Raczkowski said, "and that we will have addressed all relevant concerns expressed by the public.”
He added that the Planning staff is reaching out to colleagues across the state to better understand certain issues that surfaced during the hearing, such as bonding of private wastewater treatment plants.
The Planning staff will present their findings to the Board of Commissioners at a special meeting, open to the public, on Tuesday May 24 at 5 pm in the Historic Courthouse in Carthage. A final recommendation on Pine Forest from the Planning staff is expected during the Tuesday, June 21 Commissioners' meeting.
At Tuesday night’s meeting, the Board approved the recusal of Commissioner Larry Caddell, due to a conflict of interest, from the Pine Forest special meeting.
During the Public Comment segment of the meeting, SOS President Joe McDonald “urged the Board to consider" purchasing development rights on some parcels of open land and “to look to the future” when the population increases and the need for open space and wildlife will become more necessary. McDonald said with funding from the County some individuals could keep their land and preserve it for the future.
Board Votes Against Grant Funds for Transportation Program
The debate heated up between Commissioner Tim Lea and the rest of the Board when it came time to vote on a Targeted Transit Assistance Program [TTAP] Grant Application, presented by Tawanna Williams, Manager of Moore County Transportation Services. The grant would provide the county with $105,000 in funding from the state, but require a $54,000 match from the county.
Commissioner Jimmy Melton was the first to voice his opposition to increasing funds for TTAP, which would use the grant money to expand its services to the rural population, as well as disabled and elderly citizens.
“The economy is why I am objecting,” said Melton, who made a motion to forego applying for the funds for the current budget year. "I don't believe, at this time, we need to add another program."
County Manager McSwain explained that the local match would be funded by fares paid by those who used the system for transportation. There would be no budget impact for the County unless the system failed to attract enough riders, he explained.
Williams said there is a waiting list of one hundred individuals who need rides on one of the county's existing twenty-five buses.
Chairman Nick Picerno reminded Williams that the county's existing transportation system was not running as efficiently as it should be and suggested that those inefficiencies should be worked out before the program is expanded. He and Caddell both objected to the use of state and federal tax dollars to fund the grant program.
Commissioner Lea argued that if Moore County doesn’t accept the state grant money, some other county will. Noting that gas prices are going up and people are losing their homes -- and with no cost to the County taxpayer -- Lea said, “I don’t know why this Board can’t approve this. A lot of people are in dire straits.”
Commissioner Lea proposed to apply for the grant money then reevaluate the program in one year, but, in the end, the Board voted four to one against submitting the grant application.
Housing Grant Accepted
Later in the meeting, the Board voted to accept a $500,000 Economic Recovery Program Community Development Block Grant offered to Moore County by the North Carolina Department of Commerce. The funds will be used in housing rehabilitation for low and moderate income housing.
Commissioner Lea questioned the Board's consistency in approving this grant but opposing the Targeted Transit Assistance Program grant, saying “the Board doesn’t need to send mixed messages; be consistent in your vote.”
Chairman Picerno was quick to fire back saying, “I appreciate Commissioner Lea’s comments, but he doesn’t tell me how to vote.” The vote carried 3-2 with Picerno and Caddell in opposition.
Funding Options for Mandated Narrowbanding
Also on the agenda for the Thursday, May 5 Board of Commissioners Work Session are funding options for moving the County's emergency communications systems to a narrower radio frequency bandwidth -- a change mandated by the Federal Communications Commission [FCC]. Several agencies in the County would be affected by the mandate, including the Sheriff’s Department, Municipal Police Departments, Municipal and Volunteer Fire Departments, and EMS.
The County's Public Safety staff is recommending that the county move to the State Highway Patrol’s Voice Interoperability Plan for Emergency Responders [VIPER] system by the end of 2012, at a price tag of nearly $5 million. Most of the counties adjacent to Moore are moving to the VIPER system, which could minimize infrastructure cost and allow “interoperability” among the counties.
Assistant County Manager Ken Larking presented four options for funding the VIPER narrowbanding requirements, two that would use only county funds and two that would look to municipalities to pay a portion of the cost.
County Manager McSwain said the County has allocated funds for the mandatory narrowbanding upgrade in next year’s budget.
The Board will further review the VIPER funding options at a special work session on Thursday, May 5 at 4 pm.
Hiring Freeze Approved
At the suggestion of Commissioner Kennedy, the Board approved a hiring freeze on all non-essential County vacancies until the FY2011-2012 budget has been set. The freeze would not apply to positions directly impacting citizen safety or public works.
There are currently thirty vacancies, and, Kennedy said, "we are operating fine without them.” If a department head feels a position should be filled they can come to the Board for approval.
The County Manager's proposed FY 2011-2012 budget recommends cutting eight full time positions and one part time position, currently vacant, in an effort to balance the upcoming budget.
Public Hearings Called
The Board called a public hearing on Tuesday, June 7 at 6 pm to consider entering into a contract to provide $10,000 to help defray relocation costs for an unnamed manufacturing company that is considering moving to a space in the Old Carthage Fabrics Building. The move could add $250,000 to the tax base, along with nine-to-eighteen jobs, according to Partners in Progress.
At the request of Planning Director Joey Rackzowski, the Board called a public hearing on Tuesday, May 17 to consider the Moore County multijurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan [HMP]. The HMP is the practice of reducing risks to people and property from natural disasters. In the event of a natural disaster, the county can only receive federal and state money from agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency if an HMP is in place.
Other Business
In other business during Tuesday's meeting, the Board of Commissioners:
• Approved a contract extension with Northern Moore Family Resource Center, which administers a program that helps identify families that could qualify for a federally funded program to help them make a down payment on a home.
• Approved a $5,000 grant, awarded by USDA Housing Preservation, for each of four homes that qualify under the county's Scattered Site Housing rehabilitation program.
• Granted the Town of Aberdeen an easement for the installation of a water line through a portion of the Moore County Landfill property.
• Approved, in a four-to-one vote with Chairman Picerno opposed, a loan modification of $2,600 for work performed on one housing unit under the 2009 Scattered Site Housing Community Development Block Grant.
• Declared "Elder Abuse Awareness Month" from May 6 through June 19.
• Declared the month of May "Foster Parent Appreciation Month." There are currently thirty seven children in foster care in Moore County.
• Awarded to Anson Contractors Inc. a $456,000 contract for the Moore County C&D Landfill Cell 5 expansion project, consists of constructing approximately five acres for a construction and demolition landfill disposal area, three sediment basins, and the relocation of a portion of the access road.
• Tabled a $9,000 budget modification request from Planning Director Rackzowski to fund additional design work by Hobbs-Upchurch and Associates for the creation of a culvert in the River Bend Subdivision. Rackzowski said Hobbs Upchurch and Associates, the engineers for the project, would be paid on an hourly basis up to $9,000 for the “additional design” of the project. The Board asked that the firm provide an estimate of the time to be spent on the additional design portion of the project before a vote can be considered.
• Approved a meeting schedule for the year 2011-2012, with regular meetings being held on the first Tuesday of every month at 4 pm and the third Tuesday of every month at 5 pm. The first Tuesday in June will be held an hour later than usual to allow for greater attendance as the budget is being adopted. The first meetings in July and December are canceled to accommodate holiday schedules.
• Approved the appointment of Sue McDuffy to a three year term on the Nursing and Adult Care Home Community Advisory Committee.
