Alston says budget gap unlikely

Paul B. Johnson, The High Point Enterprise, N.C.
·2 min read

Feb. 16—GUILFORD COUNTY — The chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners is offering reassurances about the county's fiscal position after staff released information on a possible $8 million budget gap at the board's recent annual retreat.

Democratic Chairman Skip Alston told The High Point Enterprise that the $8 million gap projection is a worst-case scenario and isn't likely to materialize as commissioners craft a 2023-24 fiscal year budget that needs to be in place by July 1.

The projection was based on a property tax collection rate of 98%, but Alston said the collection rate is expected to be closer to nearly 100%.

"That would probably equate to right at about that $8 million," Alston said. "That's always the case — they always plan low but know that it's going to come in a little bit more. I've been through 26 budgets as a commissioner, and this isn't unusual at all."

Alston said the commissioners won't be placed in a position of raising taxes or reducing services for the upcoming fiscal year.

During the retreat, county budget staff said base revenues are expected to increase 1.7% while estimated expenses increase 2.7%. The current Guilford County fiscal year budget is $784 million.

Republican Commissioner Alan Perdue, whose district covers parts of High Point, said he's always concerned about budgetary shortfalls.

"We should be trying to reel in excessive spending and making sure we are doing what the county needs to do to meet the needs of the public without unnecessary expenditures," said Perdue, one of three Republican commissioners on the nine-member board.

Perdue said that he was puzzled about the timing of the discussion about the possible budget gap at the retreat, held Feb. 2-3 at Bur-Mil Park in Greensboro. Traditionally the report on the status of the county's budget is the first item, or among the first matters, discussed at the two-day retreat.

But the possible budget gap was the last item on the agenda as the commissioners wrapped up their retreat on the afternoon of Feb. 3.

Perdue said the discussion should have taken place at the beginning of the retreat, not the end, because it would have shaped other deliberations at the retreat.

pjohnson@hpenews.com — 336-888-3528 — @HPEpaul