Proposed budget includes 6-cent property tax hike

After months of preparation, Interim County Manager Jeffrey Hudson presented the proposed budget to the Board of County Commissioners and the community at the commissioners meeting Monday night. The proposed budget, which the commissioners have until June 30 to approve, includes a 6-cent property tax increase, which would go toward funding public education, public safety and county building maintenance.

There is no proposed raise for employees and nearly every fee charged to residents, from recreation to building permits, is recommended to increase.

“It’s not an easy thing for a manager to ever recommend a tax increase but it’s the responsible thing,” Hudson said at the conclusion of his budget presentation to the commissioners. “Sometimes, it’s necessary.”

The 6-cent increase breaks down to 2 cents for public education operations funding, 1 cent for public education capital fund contribution, 1/2 cent for funding Sampson Community College’s annual capital needs, 1 cent for the replacement of two ambulances, 1 cent for 13 sheriff patrol vehicles and 1/2 cent for maintenance to county government buildings.

Hudson stated that it was a difficult budget year, and cuts needed to be made in order to balance the budget. In 2024, $11.8 million was pulled from the county’s fund balance to balance the budget. “In the budget message last year, there was a deficit reported of $11.8 million, and that was filled by using fund balance,” Hudson explained. “Fund balance might be explained in one way as the savings account of the county.”

While it’s “normal” to use fund balance to balance the budget, he said that the use of fund balance last year was the largest in the county’s history. “Really, $11.8 million was used, and if I can paraphrase, my interpretation of this is ‘Now, y’all have a year to figure something out.’ So now, we have to figure this out.”

Hudson worked with the department heads to “figure it out.” When budget season started, requests from county departments totaled $94,330,950. To whittle that number down, Hudson held multiple meetings with departments to make cuts, then department heads cut more, and finally, Hudson made further cuts. The following cuts were made to help balance the budget:

• A total of 20 positions were cut through attrition. No employees were sent home with no job, Hudson pointed out, but rather vacant positions were eliminated without hiring a candidate.
• A 2.6 percent cost of living adjustment (COLA) for county employees was eliminated. Instead, Hudson proposed four bonus days at July 4, Thanksgiving and Christmas so that county departments can close, further saving in operation costs.
• All travel and training for county employees was cut.
• Hours were reduced for all county libraries, with the Garland library originally slated for closure. However, it was saved, thanks to a $51,000 allotment approved by the Garland Board of Commissioners.
• County contracts for mowing were eliminated and instead county employees will perform mowing.
• Housekeeping contracts were cut from five days a week to three.
• Vehicle requests were reduced to emergency vehicles only.
• The county will also flatly fund Sampson Community College, cutting requests to increase the annual operating budget.
• Health benefits for county employees were cut through a renegotiation with Blue Cross Blue Shield.

The result is a proposed budget of $82,259,037. That includes $1 million to repair the roof at Sampson Middle School, $1,269,101 for county building maintenance through the capital reserve fund, and $79,999,936 in the general fund for operational expenses.

“You might say, ‘what’s left in the budget? You cut a lot,’” Hudson said. “I think it’s important to note that all county departments continue to exist.”

The budget also includes proposed multi-year fire tax rates for each of the county’s 20 departments. All departments except Piney Grove and Turkey have signed a new five-year contract to provide fire service with a 95 percent response rate.

The county commissioners and both school boards also approved a new funding formula that will increase the county’s funding of public education to 25 percent of total revenues.

That computes to 63 percent of general fund expenditures going to public education and public safety.

The proposed budget increases fees as well, so that, as Hudson said, those using the service will help pay for the service.

All of this decreases use of fund balance from $11.8 million to $1.3 million, Hudson said. “That will put you in a better financial position,” he stated. “You do have some challenges next year as well. Hopefully, your growth in the tax base will help. This puts you in a much better position to do what you need to do.”

The 6-cent proposed increase to property taxes is projected to generate $48,044,343 in revenue.

In Sampson County, the average single family home is valued at $157,314, Hudson shared. That equates to $983 per year at the current property tax rate, 62.5 cents. With the proposed increase to 68.5 cents, that would bring that property tax bill to $1,077, a difference of $94 per year. “That difference is what funds all of this — K-12 funding, saving for the future, all of these things that we covered,” he said.

“The bottom line,” Hudson shared, “is that the proposed budget is balanced with a mixture of cuts, moderate fund balance usage, and a tax increase.”

Last year, there was centralized budgeting, meaning that not all departments were involved in the budgeting process like they were this year.

“This is not a done deal by any means,” Hudson pointed out. County commissioners now have the option to approve the budget as presented, or enact a lower property tax rate by increasing reliance on the fund balance. They could also cut the property tax rate by cutting departments or they could choose to implement a COLA for county staff so that the county can remain competitive.

Hudson shared that he recently bought a bottle of Diet Coke that had his wife’s name on it that cost $2.50. “That one penny for a library, that one penny for recreation,” he said. “One penny per month on a house is $1.30 on average. That is less than this $2.50 Coca-Cola. You can cut every bit of every library, recreation or senior programs. You’re not making up that 6 cents. That adds up to $4.2 million. There’s nowhere else to get $4.2 million.”

He added that the only other option was to cut people’s jobs or entire departments. “That will make some people very happy, but it will make some other people very upset, people that depend on those services,” Hudson said. “What you believe is important is dependent upon your situation.”

Hudson summed up by saying that the commissioners do not have an enviable job when deciding on the proposed budget. “They’re making the decision on the burden of taxes on individuals versus the necessity of police protection, law enforcement protection, the necessity of EMS services, the necessity of helping people climb out of poverty in a county with sometimes a 21 percent poverty rate.”

“You have a wonderful county,” Hudson said. “It has been an absolute blessing to me. I do pray that God continues to bless Sampson County, that He gives the county commissioners wisdom and that as you move forward, you’re able to find just the right path.”