Caldwell County adopts $130.6 million budget, sets tax rate at 49.75¢ amid dispute over EMS overtime

The Caldwell County Board of Commissioners on June 9 adopted a $130,565,746 fiscal year 2025–26 budget and set the county tax rate at 49.75 cents per $100 of assessed value after a 3-2 vote.

The budget, presented by Interim County Manager Wayne Rash, includes a $105,202,133 general fund appropriation and increases for public safety, continued funding for local schools and Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute, a continuation of the county merit pay program and about $2 million in capital investments, Rash told the board: "It's a total of a $130,565,746 budget with a $105,202,133 general fund appropriation." He also said the proposal creates a new reserve account for landfill proceeds and seeks to reduce the tax rate after a countywide property revaluation.

The measure to set the tax rate and adopt the budget was moved by Commissioner Patrick Starnes. "I would like to make a motion that we set our tax rate at 49.75¢," Starnes said; the motion passed by a 3-2 roll call. Chair and other commissioners said the board had worked through multiple advertised budget work sessions and staff briefings as part of the process.

The public hearing on the budget drew one speaker, who raised questions about how revaluation and the new rate affect individual homeowners and about landfill operations. Rash and other commissioners addressed those concerns during the debate.

Much of the meeting’s discussion focused on an unbudgeted shortfall in emergency services costs in the current fiscal year — primarily overtime and related compensation lines — and a broader review of EMS staffing and supervision. County financial staff said a budget revision is needed to close out the current fiscal year because EMS and related divisions have already exceeded the amounts originally budgeted. "That budget will overdraw, and we will overspend," one county finance official warned. "We gotta pay people what they what they've worked."

Commissioners discussed several causes cited by staff: schedule changes that shifted employees from 12‑hour to 24‑hour schedules; vacancies and long-term medical leaves that required overtime backfill; and line items not being adjusted when prior-year decisions changed service levels. Medical Director Dr. Garrett Snyder told commissioners he is concerned that cutting EMS capacity or supervision too deeply could create patient-safety risks: "We have an almost dangerous saline EMS service," he said, urging caution before broad cuts.

During the meeting the board removed a consent-agenda budget revision for emergency-services overtime, then approved that revision separately so auditors would not record an overdrawn current-year fund balance. The board approved a $425,000 budget revision to cover current-year EMS overtime and related costs. The board then debated and approved a separate motion to reduce the next fiscal year’s EMS appropriation by $300,000, with language allowing the funds to be restored if needed by demonstrated operational necessity.

Commissioners directed the county manager and staff to create an EMS oversight/work group — including county staff, medical leadership and commissioners — to develop and report back on a plan to reduce overtime and improve supervision. Commissioners asked for monthly reporting on salary and overtime lines and set a timetable for the oversight group to present findings to the board.

The board’s final actions on the budget and these related motions were procedural and financial: adoption of the FY25–26 budget, adoption of the 49.75¢ tax rate, a current-year budget amendment to cover overtime already incurred, a directive to form an EMS oversight work group, and a $300,000 contingency reduction in next year’s EMS budget subject to review and possible restoration by the board.

Commissioners and staff emphasized that the adoption does not end work on the budget. Rash said the board will continue to monitor revenue and expenditures and could adjust rates or appropriations in future meetings if revenues come in stronger than forecast.

Less-critical budget items approved as part of the package include continued merit-pay funding for county employees, $600,000 capital set‑aside for future landfill costs and $150,000 one‑time funding to the community college that was later placed on the consent agenda.