Taking the good with the bad
Commissioner Kirk Kirkpatrick remembers many Haywood County budget hearings in which the public was absent from the process, but that was not the case this year.
The courtroom was about half-full with people who wanted to weigh in on the proposed $72.9 million county budget for 2015-16, and the commissioners were appreciative for their feedback, whether positive or negative.
“There’s been several times we didn’t have a soul here for the budget hearing. It’s good there is public input on all sides,” Kirkpatrick said. “… This is a difficult budget — no one wants to raise taxes.”
But that is exactly what the county is planning to do. County Manager Ira Dove recommended a 2.5-cent tax hike, which he said would enable the county to play catch-up on a number of items it’s been putting off during the recession, including capital projects and raises for employees.
“We kicked a lot of cans down the road last year, and this year we want to fix the problems,” Dove said.
The Fines Creek Library needs a new roof, the Canton Library needs a new heating and air system, emergency services needs new ambulances and the sheriff’s department needs more detention officers and vehicle replacements.
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When looking at the budget in terms of the things the county is mandated to fund, Dove said there really isn’t much left to cut other than services.
“We can save a lot of money by not having a library or by giving less education funding. We don’t have to provide a senior resource center,” he said. But of course those are all valued services that the county provides for its residents.
If the tax increase is implemented, Dove said the average household would see a $37 increase to its property tax bill while the county would take in an additional $2 million in revenue.
Employee raises
One of the top goals for commissioners is giving employees a raise, especially employees on the lower end of the pay scale making minimum wage. The proposed budget includes money to get those minimum wage employees up to $9.69 an hour. Dove said employees hadn’t received a cost of living raise since 2008.
During public comment, Juanita Dixon said she was shocked that there were county employees making less than $8 an hour. Even with the increase to $9.69 an hour, she said, employees were probably still below the national poverty level.
“I don’t like to pay more taxes, and it is a burden on elderly people with fixed incomes — I understand that — but in good conscience I don’t see how you can’t raise pay for these employees,” Dixon said. “I’ll pay the extra so employees can have at least a decent living.”
Speaking as a taxpayer, Dale Burris, county facilities and maintenance director, thanked the commissioners for increasing the minimum pay for employees. As a supervisor, he knows that many of his employees deserve more money for the work they perform.
“Sometimes you stay awake at night wondering if your employees are able to put food on the table,” he said.
Not everyone was in support of the proposed tax hike. While Kenneth Henson agreed that custodians and sheriff’s deputies should receive raises, he was critical of other employees who he claimed made too much money.
“I think Mr. Dove is making $130,000 a year plus $7,000 in traveling expenses,” Henson said. “At Monday night’s meeting when we were here, (Commissioner Bill) Upton spent five minutes praising Mr. Dove. He better be doing a good job — he can’t do a good enough job in this county.”
Henson claimed Dove was asking for a 16-percent pay increase this year, but Dove said that was incorrect. All employees would receive a 2-percent cost of living increase and are eligible for a merit pay raise.
In closing, Commission Chairman Mark Swanger thanked the employees for the services they provide every day and for remaining loyal to the county throughout the recession years.
Education costs
Education spending — $17.3 million — accounts for about 21 percent of the county’s proposed budget this year. Under a newly approved funding formula, Haywood County Schools will receive $14.4 million from the county in 2015-16, which is a $292,890 increase from last year.
About half of that increase is earmarked for capital outlay projects while the other half will be placed in contingency to ensure the schools’ per pupil funding doesn’t decrease because of funds that will now be going to the new charter school in Haywood County.
Schools Superintendent Dr. Anne Garrett and Board of Education Chairman Chuck Francis shared their appreciation for the additional funding during public comment.
Thanks to the revised funding formula, Garrett said the school system would be able to spend $40 per student.
“As of April we are ranked 21st in the state (for student funding),” she said. “That says a lot about your support.”
Francis said he was very pleased that the school board had such a good working relationship with commissioners because that is often not the case throughout the state.
“You’ve empowered our board to manage our budget through our funding formula,” he said. “We will continue to be good stewards of the money we receive from the county.”
The county budget also includes about $2.2 million for Haywood Community College’s operating expenses, which is a 3.8 percent increase from last year. College President Dr. Barbara Parker said the $325,000 for infrastructure improvements would enable the college to complete some much-needed work on its roads, curbs and sidewalks. The increase also helps cover the cost of a proposed community college system-wide 5 percent salary increase.
New animal shelter
A new county animal shelter was a popular discussion item during the public comment portion of the budget hearing, even though Dove said the 2015-16 budget didn’t include any funding for the proposed project. The county has considered building the new shelter, which is estimated to cost $3 million, on the Haywood County Fairgrounds property but the plan fell through because of deed covenants.
Some residents were not happy with the idea of spending that much for a shelter in the first place — let alone the county purchasing additional property to build it on.
Yvonne Wadham told commissioners that people in the county were still hurting and couldn’t afford a tax increase right now — especially to pay for a “Taj Mahal” for animals.
“I like animals and people, but my concern is a property tax increase can’t be afforded,” she said. “Can’t we utilize some of the property we have? I think we can cut and not put the burden on taxpayers.”
Henson agreed that the county shouldn’t raise taxes to pay for “a doghouse.” He said it wasn’t the taxpayers’ responsibility to pay for an animal shelter just like it isn’t the taxpayers’ job to pay for and take care of his 300 head of cattle.
“No taxpayer should have to feed my cattle — it’s wrong and it should not happen,” Henson said as his comments were met with applause from the audience.
Francis Cove landfill
Even though the Francis Farm landfill has not been in operation since 1993, it will cause the largest funding increase in this year’s budget. Per the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the county must implement a corrective remediation plan at the former landfill.
The required action, which is estimated to cost about $8 million, includes purchasing 45 acres surrounding the site to create a larger buffer zone that will help with ongoing groundwater and methane monitoring. The county also has to place 130,000 cubic yards of compacted soil on 21 acres at the site.
To meet that cost, Dove said the budget includes increasing the annual solid waste household availability fee from $92 to $164. The fee is added to property tax bills that go out in September. While no one wants to spend that much to correct the problems, Dove said the county also didn’t want to kick the can down the road to the next board of commissioners and future generations of taxpayers.
“Nobody likes this news,” he said.
To see the complete proposed budget, visit www.haywoodnc.net.
