Beaufort County commissioners approve 2025–26 budget after heated debate over SW Snowden school and $300,000 conditional offer

Beaufort County commissioners approved the 2025–26 budget on Tuesday after a marathon meeting that included a public hearing, multiple amendments and an emotional dispute over whether to keep SW Snowden Elementary School open.

The county opened the statutorily required public hearing on the budget before the board voted to delay final adoption until a follow-up meeting the next Monday to allow more time for discussion. Commissioners later approved a motion to include a conditional $300,000 allocation to the Beaufort County School System “to keep Snowden open,” and then adopted the budget ordinance with recorded opposition from several commissioners.

The budget debate centered on several tied issues: whether the school system’s financial calculations about saving by closing the small Aurora-area SW Snowden School were accurate; how the county should use fund balance and special funds for one-time items; and whether to expand employee 401(k) matching without raising the tax rate.

Commissioner Stan Deffridge pressed the school board’s cost assumptions and urged the county to offer a targeted payment to the district. “A mere offer of $300,000 will keep the Snowden School open,” Deffridge said, arguing the school board’s published savings from closure overstated net county savings. He proposed the conditional $300,000 and said the board should attach that condition to the budget ordinance so the funds would be made available if the school remained open.

Commissioner Hood Richardson opposed some of the funding moves and criticized what he described as “fluff” in the budget. Richardson also pushed for returning more money to taxpayers, proposing a one-year 10% tax reduction that did not pass.

County staff described adjustments made since the manager’s recommended budget: a reallocation of $75,383 from school capital to school current expense, approval of an EMS employee training program at $37,500, an increase in the election director’s salary of $14,944, and changes in the solid waste enterprise fund that required a fee change to balance the fund. Anita (finance officer) presented a funding proposal that would retire a prior interfund loan and use a combination of reimbursements and contingency to fund an expansion of county 401(k) matching without raising the tax rate.

The board used a mix of fund-balance adjustments, reallocated program dollars and targeted reductions to pay for some additions. Commissioners voted to postpone finalization to the next Monday to allow continued negotiation and to give the school board time for its meeting the following night.

The vote on the final budget ordinance passed with several dissenting votes. The board also approved a number of separate line items by roll call during the meeting — including adding reclassifications in emergency management and approving selective outside-agency allocations — but left some contract approvals for later because of potential conflicts of interest or missing documentation.

What happens next: The board set a follow-up meeting the next Monday to finalize lingering budget details and directed staff to prepare a revised ordinance incorporating the conditional $300,000 allocation. The school board was scheduled to meet the night after the commissioners’ meeting; county leaders said they would be prepared to act after reviewing any new information the district provided.

Why this matters: The budget sets the county’s spending priorities for the coming fiscal year. The conditional $300,000 and the debate over Snowden School highlight the board’s willingness to use one-time funds to influence district-level decisions, and they underscore enduring tensions between county-level fiscal management and local school administration.

Commissioners and staff said they expected to return to the topic at the next scheduled meeting if additional adjustments were needed.