Commissioners approve budget amendments to add grants, seasonal staffing and opioid-settlement–funded peer support positions

The Alexander County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved Budget Ordinance Amendments Nos. 3 through 6, authorizing new grant-funded purchases, seasonal staffing, insurance premium allocations and staffing changes funded in part by opioid settlement distributions.

Deborah Bechtel, interim county manager, summarized the amendments and said they reflect recently awarded grants and required budget adjustments. She told the board Amendment No. 3 increases budgets for multiple public-health grants, including an infrastructure workforce-development award and funds for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

“Budget ordinance amendment number 4 has a number of things in it and includes, a grant from Duke Energy Foundation to be used for the purchase of water rescues kits in emergency management, a grant from the North Carolina Amateur Sports Youth Sports Grant Fund to the Recreation Department, which will be used to purchase youth sports equipment and do some facility upgrades,” Bechtel said. She also described seasonal staffing increases for parks to cover Swim Beach and Rocky Face Park through May and June of next year and a correction to a senior center grant accounting entry.

Bechtel said Amendment No. 5 adjusts the general fund for updated allocations for workers’ compensation and property and liability insurance premiums across departments. Amendment No. 6 budgets to reclassify a part-time peer support specialist to full time and to add two part-time, no-benefit peer support specialist positions; she said funding for those positions will come from 2025–26 opioid settlement distributions.

The board discussed the items collectively and then voted. A commissioner moved to approve Amendments Nos. 3–6 "as presented," a second was recorded, and the motion carried unanimously.

The nut graf: the package bundles multiple smaller grants and routine budget corrections and includes new staffing funded by opioid settlement proceeds, aligning with a board strategy adopted earlier in the year.

Implementation details provided at the meeting: Duke Energy Foundation funds will be used to buy water-rescue kits for emergency management; the youth-sports grant will pay for equipment and facility upgrades in the Recreation Department; parks budgets were increased to add four seasonal positions at Swim Beach and Rocky Face Park for the coming season; insurance premium increases were reallocated across the general fund; and opioid-settlement funds were allocated to expand peer-support capacity. Bechtel said this funding “reinforces the port CP strategy adopted by you as a board on June 2 earlier this year.”

The meeting record does not list individual salary costs or the exact number of clients served by the peer-support positions. The board approved the amendments and directed staff to implement the changes through standard budget and hiring processes.