Commissioners approve county's 2023-24 budget

Jun. 14—CALDWELL COUNTY — The Caldwell County Board of Commissioners approved its annual budget for fiscal year 2023-24 during its meeting on Monday, June 12. The county's property tax rate will remain the same, but fire taxes will increase for several volunteer fire departments.

County Manager Donald Duncan presented the proposed budget to the board. The total proposed budget for fiscal year 2023-24 is just over $118 million. This includes $96 million in the General Fund; $18 million for education; $4 million in Utility Fund; $23 million for Human Services; $12 for General Government funds; $9 million for economic and physical development; as well as funds for debt services and cultural and recreational development. This year also begins the first full year of the county receiving opioid settlement funds totaling $560,700.

"I'm proud of the professional manner in which the county and staff assisted with the preparation of this budget," said Duncan. "We stand ready to assist [the board] in any way possible as we move forward to adopt this budget."

The county's property tax rate will remain at 63 cents per $100 assessed value. Duncan explained that the tax base has grown by $170 million with a 5% sales tax growth estimated year over year.

For public safety, a number of projects are scheduled to be funded, including, but not limited to, the new Cajah's Mountain EMS Base, new positions in the sheriff's office for a grant administrator and an internal affairs investigator, the replacement of eight sheriff's office patrol cars, as well as new heart monitors and stretchers for EMS, repairs to the detention facility and sheriff's office, and new sheriff's office body-worn and in-car cameras.

For Human Services, a new position for Animal Care officer has been budgeted. Additionally, two Animal Care trucks need to be replaced and a new one purchased. A new system for foster and adoption called "Be The Village" will be created at the Department of Social Services (DSS), and three DSS SUVs will be replaced. At the Health Clinic, a supervisor position is expected to be eliminated and replaced with a nurse position.

Duncan explained that Caldwell County Schools receive about $14 million in funding, Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute receives nearly $4 million, and Communities In Schools operates with $44,500. A new sanitation program will be created to teach children better sanitation habits. Moreover, the Granite Falls Middle School was remodeled this year.

The $12 million set aside for "General Government" will be spent on IT network improvements to provide a better functioning and safer network; a new convenience site supervisor position; and an intern position for the county's public information officer.

Duncan also mentioned that the county will save money in Public Safety and Tax Administration with its access to Nearmap, which offers high-resolution aerial imagery and city-scale 3D datasets.

"We get annual updates now on aerial photography," said Duncan. "It's at different angles so we can see the buildings. It's fewer trips out to the field, and we can look at stuff almost in real time. This project is also partially funded with participation from all municipalities."

For Economic and Physical Development, $9 million is planned toward a new payment specialist, contracted planning services with the Western Piedmont Council of Governments (WPCOG), increased building inspection fees to cover the cost of inspections, and a new Industrial Park with the potential for four or five 50,000-square-foot buildings.

Debt Service is going to drop about $400,000 this year, Duncan said, and continue to fall off over the next five years.

"You're looking pretty good," he said. "We'll probably pick that back up and add some more projects to the pile."

Looking ahead, Duncan listed a number of projects that the county's budget should focus on, including housing demand growth and the development of Foothills Regional Airport.

"Airports are in high demand," he said, "and you have a vast amount of acres out there that you share with Burke County and the cities of Lenoir and Morganton. It's not been focused on as a potential Economic Development site. This will put new, statewide focus on that site, and there's a potential of another $300 million available in a state budget for just small, regional airports, and we've already got our name in the hat for that."

Lastly, several county fire departments (Bethlehem, Granite Falls, Little River, Sawmills, Gamewell, and North Catawba) asked for Fire Department Tax Increases in order to increase staffing, improve benefits, purchase and replace new equipment, and more.

"Hopefully, folks can see what it takes to run a county, and how thankful we are, and should be, of the good shape that our county's in," said Commissioner Mike LaBrose. "There are a lot of counties out there that are struggling, a lot of counties out there that are much larger and they spend a whole lot more money. But I think that we're good stewards of the taxpayer dollar. Could we be better? Of course, no one's perfect. But being part of this board for several years, I continue to see our county getting better and better, investing in the future."