Harnett County finance staff proposes $195.5 million general fund, asks commissioners for guidance on school and nonprofit funding

Harnett County finance staff presented a recommended 2025–26 budget Monday that sets the general fund operating budget at $195,506,342 and asks the Board of Commissioners for guidance on school funding, nonprofit allocations and several fee changes.

Lisa McFadden, Harnett County finance staff, told commissioners the county increased its fund balance allocation by about $12 million to cover additional funding requests for Harnett County Schools, and set aside contingency equal to the amount lost last fiscal year in low-wealth funding, roughly $5.7 million. "The $45,716,364 was the total amount requested by Harnett County Schools," McFadden said, adding that per-pupil increase in the proposal is $1,810.40 — approximately $395 more per student than last year.

The proposal also adds a new social worker 3 position, administrative costs for the Alliance Health allocation, a $60,000 equipment repair request for Harnett Regional Water, and capital reserve funding for GIS/IT office relocation and sheriffs' office vehicle replacement through the inter-enterprise fleet. McFadden said estimated fund balance would fall to about 17 percent after these allocations.

Why it matters: The recommended budget increases county commitments to the public school system substantially and uses a larger share of fund balance, which reduces financial cushion. Commissioners must decide whether to fund nonprofit requests and finalize fee changes that will be folded into the budget ordinance.

During discussion, commissioners asked staff for additional detail on a recent request from Johnston-Lee-Harnett Community Action (a nonprofit) seeking $25,000–$50,000 to support job training, childcare assistance, back-to-school programs and emergency utility and rent support. McFadden said the recommended budget did not include nonprofit funding but staff can present bylaws and a process if the board wants to consider allocations.

Commissioner comments also addressed EMS funding: staff said they recommended a 10 percent increase to EMS fees countywide though some departments had requested larger increases; the difference would leave shortfalls for some providers. McFadden said staff will provide supporting data in time for final ordinance action.

The board gave staff direction to prepare a budget ordinance for formal action next week and to present nonprofit bylaws and additional EMS fee data for review.

The budget schedule: McFadden said staff will have the ordinance ready for the board’s regular meeting next week. If approved, the ordinance will incorporate the fee changes discussed for Harnett Regional Water and the Harnett Regional Jetport that were added late to the budget work.

No formal vote on the final budget occurred at the work session; commissioners instructed staff to finalize materials and return with the ordinance for next-week consideration.