The Macon County Board of Commissioners met on Thursday, May 22, at 9 a.m. to talk budget with Macon County Schools, Southwestern Community College, Davenport and Company LLC, Emergency Medical Services and several volunteer fire departments. The budget work session ran for nearly five and a half hours.
Macon County Schools
Macon County Schools started off the meeting with a presentation on changes to the school system’s requested budget. Superintendent Josh Lynch and Finance Director Alayna Ledford presented a pair of options. A $12,377,295.68 barebones budget would allow the school to continue from last year with standard pay increases for teachers. Additional funding of $896,957.28 would be required to both maintain the existing budget and fund the system’s top priorities, including adding art and music instruction, preschool and football expenses.
A $15,703,163.80 budget would allow the school system to expand, filling each school’s personnel requests, including four positions at Highlands School, 13 positions at Franklin High, and five positions at Iotla Valley. The expansion budget would also help cover the cost of adding non-teacher personnel the system needs.
The board will continue the discussion with system representatives in greater detail at a follow up work session on Wednesday, May 28.
SCC
Southwest Community College Facilities Director Joe Waldrum presented capital requests for several projects. These requests are rarely granted, at least not in their entirety, according to data presented by SCC.
The most expensive among them, and the most discussed by the board, was an $800,000 resurfacing for a driver training lot, which would replace the existing two-inch surface with a four-inch surface that would allow SCC to offer Commercial Drivers License classes, something for which drivers would otherwise have to travel to obtain.
Board Chair Josh Young was open to the idea of being able to establish CDL classes in the far west region of North Carolina, saying, “We have several counties right here between Jackson, Macon, Swain. That’s what I’m considering our region. So, if there’s something we can do to help that … I’d be willing to contribute our portion.”
Commissioner John Shearl agreed with the sentiment but said he did not believe the county should fund, or at least not fully fund, a project that would establish income for an outside organization. “I just don’t think we should be on the hook for that full $800,000.”
Solid Waste Capital Improvement Plan
Mitch Brigulio of Davenport & Company gave a presentation on the costs associated with operating county landfills, discussing closure and post-closure costs and requesting millions to replace aging equipment and finance construction of new landfill cells in the coming year.
This new construction will be required within the next 12-18 months due to increases in the volume of solid waste handled by the company since 2020, according to Brigulio. Waste from the demolition of the old Angel hospital created a recent increase. It is expected that increases in solid waste will level off before long.
Macon County incurred significant expenses to close and monitor filled landfill cells in 2023, contributing to $9.2 million in total expenses compared to the $5 million-$6 million of other years. These costs include the actual costs of closing landfills alongside the costs of state-required monitoring of sites to protect groundwater and keep track of harmful emissions from the closed cells.
Brigulio said the landfill expects that “current cell capacity is anticipated to be fully utilized by the end of … 2026, requiring closure to begin in spring 2027.”
Davenport has requested nearly $2.5 million to replace a compactor, an excavator, a baler and other equipment, due to those pieces nearing the end of their lifespans. Bids for the landfill expansion project should come in in August, with an estimated $7 million budget for the project.
“I think there’s so much more discussion that we need to have about this and capital planning, but I think you’ve opened all of our eyes,” Young said.
Fire departments
Otto Fire Department Board Chair Cindy Watts requested a budget increase of $25,190 to cover overall cost increases for insurance, pay and equipment. The department has not gotten a true increase and has remained revenue-neutral since 2012, except for a building payment in 2021, Watts said.
County Manager Warren Cabe said there would probably be no need for a tax increase for the department, due to the way the budget is currently written.
Cullasaja Gorge Fire and Rescue requested an increase to the district’s fire tax to cover the cost of replacing two aging, roughly 30-year-old fire trucks. The department’s board chair, Jack Baird, said he was requesting a one-cent increase to make the budget work within its current expenses, with support from the department board.
Shearl expressed opposition to the increase, saying that when rates go up they never go down.
“I have the greatest appreciation for all our men and women in uniform,” Shearl said. “I was really concerned when Franklin came in and asked for, not an increase, but for their fire service rates and fees to be left as they were when this reval [revaluation] came out. Because they needed two new trucks, and I said to myself … it’s going to happen again. And that’s exactly what you’re doing, you’re asking for an increase so you can buy two new trucks at the same time.”
Shearl said he did not see any other way to persevere, in the long run, without establishing a county-wide fire department.
Public hearing
A copy of the county’s proposed budget is available to view online at maconnc.org/budget. A copy is also available at the reception desk in the Courthouse Annex. The public hearing for the budget will be held during the Board of Commissioners meeting, at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, June 10, in the board room on the third floor of the Courthouse.