County Manager Derek Roland took a look back over the past decade when presenting the proposed 2024-25 county budget to the Macon County Board of Commissioners on May 21.
“Of the eleven budgets I have had the privilege of presenting, the fiscal year ’25 budget is the one of which I am most proud,” Roland said. “The strong financial position anchoring this budget did not happen overnight nor did it happen by accident. It is the product of a decade of fiscally responsible leadership on the Macon County Board of Commissioners and the hard work and dedication of Macon County employees who have acted under their direction.”
Roland said Macon County is one of the most financially solid county governments in the state and the budget as proposed will maintain the lowest tax rates in the state at 27 cents per $100 valuation. The proposed budget is $63,704,651, a decrease of $49,886 from the current year’s budget. Roland said they adjusted the coming year’s budget based on “normal growth conditions.”
He pointed out the county’s $48.7 million fund balance has earned the county about $3.1 million in interest during the past year.
In addressing the school’s capital projects, Roland said the county has the debt capacity to support $70.1 million of $133,650,000 in school related projects through the Capital Reserve Fund. The remaining needed funds will come from the $62 million Needs Based Capital Grant the county received, a $900,000 Repair and Renovations Funds grant and $650,000 in reserves.
Roland said “the most significant year of capital expenditures in Macon County history” can be accomplished without raising property taxes, without maxing out the county’s debt capacity and that the fund balance would not fall below $25 million.
Roland said the proposed budget is based on conservation revenue projections and a “leveling out” of the dramatic growth the county experienced during the pandemic. He said an anticipated decline in capital revenue means capital expenditures must also be adjusted, however they are budgeted at 27% above the pre-pandemic average. He described it as a “new and enhanced” level of spending on annual capital improvements.
He also anticipates real estate development and property values will remain near all-time highs, but not at the same level as the past few years. Roland said the revenue will be directed to “areas of operations the organization needs it most.”
Some of those areas receiving increases in funding include Macon County Schools, Southwestern Community College, Fontana Regional Library System, two positions in Environmental Health, a 2% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for all county employees, and a one-step increase in the pay plan for all full-time employees.
The $1.9 million in annual capital expenditures includes replacing patrol cars and ambulances, making improvements to county-owned facilities, planning for the future of the Senior Center, and a $100,000 appropriation to Macon County Schools.
Macon County Schools request
Macon County Schools requested an increase of $2.5 million in local funding from the county. The proposed county budget includes an increase of $333,405 in operational funding for the school system, or 13.09% of their request. That brings the county’s annual contribution to $10,031,774, excluding debt service.
Roland said while the increase falls short of the requested increase, it will enable the school system to maintain its current level of service, provide a 3% state mandated salary increase and corresponding supplement increase to all locally funded teachers and staff.
Included in the school system’s request were 26 new locally funded positions. Roland said the positions were created and paid for with ESSER funds awarded during the pandemic. The positions included 19 teaching positions and seven mental health professionals. Now that the ESSER funds running out, Roland said the school system is seeking to make them an ongoing part of the local operating budget.
The 19 teaching positions would cost $1,735,811. Roland said since 2018, local funding has covered on average 30 local teaching positions. The new positions would represent a 63% increase. Roland pointed out that prior to COVID there were no locally paid mental health professionals working in the school system. Those positions would add an estimated $489,040 to the budget.
Roland said the current revenue conditions “require a flat level of service.” He said the school system’s requests are not recommended for funding in the 2024-25 budget as they represent “a new level of commitment to locally funded operations that has not yet been agreed upon by the Board of Commissioners and the Board of Education.”
The county will increase its annual capital outlay to Macon County Schools by $100,000 for a total of $1.2 million. Roland said the increase is in response to the need for enhanced emergency responder radio coverage at some of the schools.
Additionally, $134 million has been allocated in the Capital Improvement Plan to include a new Franklin High School ($127 million), Highlands Middle School Renovation and Pre-K ($6 million) and the Nantahala Wastewater Treatment Plant ($650,000).
Southwestern Community College will receive an increase of $50,000 in county funding bringing the total allocation to $526,659. SCC had requested $1,581,951.
In closing his budget presentation, Roland said the 2024-25 budget has been a decade in the making and the capital improvement projects will “impact Macon County for generations to come.”
County Budget
A full copy of the county’s proposed 2024-25 budget will be posted on the county’s website, www.maconnc.org. A public hearing on the budget will be held during the June 11 meeting, beginning at 6 p.m. in the board room on the third floor of the courthouse.
A budget workshop was to be held Tuesday, June 4, which will be covered in a future issue of The Franklin Press.