Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2008 18:53:54 -0400
From: Debra Henzey
Subject: Chatham County adopts new budget with proposed increase reduced by 35%
Chatham Commissioners Reduce Tax Increase by 35 Percent
PITTSBORO-The Chatham County Board of Commissioners adjusted or eliminated several county budget items to lower the property tax increase to 3.6 cents, which is 35% less than the 5.5 cents the proposed
budget had recommended. The adopted tax rate for 2008-09 will be 65.3 cents per $100 of property valuation.
“We would prefer not to have any tax increase at all,” said George Lucier, chair of the Board of Commissioners. “However, we did not see a way to further reduce the budget without hurting important programs and services.”
Lucier said that revenues for local governments across the state have been impacted by the economic situation. “Yet, this is often the time that we see an increased demand for certain services. It is a difficult dilemma for elected officials.”
Commissioners did, however, increase expenditures in a few cases. They voted to increase the teachers supplement by $300 (up from a proposed $150 increase) and to increase the supplement for teaching assistants, bus drivers, and other classified personnel by $100 (up from a proposed $50 increase).
The West Sanford Fire District tax will increase from increase from 8.6 cents to10.9 cents, because Chatham is required to adopt the same rate for that fire district as Lee County provides. Since the budget was proposed in May, Chatham County had been waiting on Lee County to set the district rate for the next fiscal year.
However, most actions taken by the commissioners were aimed at reducing the budget, including reducing funding for a new Community Development Department by $186,207.
The new department was proposed to aid implementation of several major initiatives underway, according to County Manager Charlie Horne. “We felt that it was important to have centralized leadership for the departments that would be involved in implementing these new initiatives.”
“Commissioners strongly endorsed creating the new department because it is needed to coordinate and integrate several related departments and initiatives. However, the department cannot be fully funded at this
time,” Lucier said.
The Community Development Department would coordinate the current functions of planning, central permitting (including building inspections and fire marshal), sedimentation & erosion control, and
environmental resources. In addition, it would also handle new functions related to transportation, affordable housing and green building initiatives.
A major savings in the budget is the result of a new agreement to obtain water at a favorable rate from the City of Durham, resulting in savings of $722,266 that would have been transferred to a water capital reserve. “We can get Durham’s water at a lower rate than we can produce the water ourselves. This will allow us to now devote more resources towards a regional intake on the western side of Jordan Lake,” Lucier said.
David Hughes, director of Public Works said that the water agreement with Durham means that one million gallons per day would be available to the county starting March 1, 2009, increasing each year by one million
gallons per day to four million gallons per day by March 1, 2012. “The agreement runs through 2028 or until Chatham County water completes additional production facilities, whichever comes first.”
Hughes said that the current rate for purchasing water from Durham is $2.03 per 1,000 gallons, compared to Chatham’s current water production cost of $2.37 per 1,000 gallons. “They produce on a much larger scale
and have an established, well-equipped water system, so we can benefit from these savings, at least until we have the ability to expand our own facilities.”
Other actions by the Board of Commissioners to reduce the budget include:
* They delayed implementation of a county employee pay study until Oct. 1, saving $154,481. The recent pay study showed that general county salaries were substantially below those of surrounding local
governments. Funding in the budget will at least bring all employees up to the minimum of their salary grade, but other needed adjustments have been delayed until at least the next budget year.
* They eliminated proposed increases in county commissioner salaries, saving $4,913.
* They reduced the amount transferred to a parks capital reserve to $522,266, a savings of $200,000.
* They reduced the proposed appropriation for the Sheriff’s Office by $32,000.
Other increases in the budget included restoring proposed cuts for Chatham Trades ($17,000) and Chatham County Together ($3,000) and reimbursing Chatham Hospital for the cost of a traffic turning lane ($150,000), which will be funded from fund balance.
Debra J Henzey
Director of Community Relations
Chatham County Manager’s Office
919-542-8258
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