Randolph County passes budget without tax hike, warns this may change in future

Dean-Paul Stephens, The Courier-Tribune
·2 min read
Darrell Frye

While Randolph County residents will not experience a tax increase in the upcoming 2022-2023 fiscal year, county officials warn that may not be sustainable in the coming years.

"I hope we're not painting ourselves into a hole here," said Commissioner David Allen, later adding "I want to caution folks out there, as far as expectations go, this is a year we funded a lot of things that were necessary without increasing taxes but that's going to be a hard thing going forward."

Randolph County officials recently approved the budget for the new fiscal year which begins July 1. Officials passed the budget while maintaining the county's tax rate of 63.27 cents per $100 valuation.

The unchanged tax rate came at the suggestion of County Manager Hal Johnson and was approved by commissioners.

"We're wanting to hold the tax rate where it is," Chairperson Darrell Frye said.

More: No tax changes in Randolph County's balanced budget

While Allen approved the unchanged tax rate, he did say the projection of the economy gives him pause.

"There is concern with what are we going to do next year," Allen said, later adding "there are a couple things I'm not so hot on but overall it's a good budget. I would caution us that next year is going to be awfully tough.

The budget totals $156,815,509. This represents an increase of $2,223,219.

Included in the budget are a number of changes, including pay increases for county employees and police. This includes a 5% cost of living adjustment and a 2% pay increase to the Sheriff's Office and Emergency Management.

"We also...put $500,000 which is to be used for merit pay," Frye said, adding this would be divided between the Sheriff's Office, Emergency Management, Social Services, and the Department of Public Health. "Those are the folks who bore the brunt of the pandemic."

This, according to officials, is part of an effort to retain and attract talent. Of the 33 new requested positions, the board approved 14.

Follow Dean-Paul Stephens on Twitter @DeanPEStephens. If you have tips, send an ! to dstephens@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Courier-Tribune: Randolph County approved budget for 2022-2023 fiscal year