County manager presents revenue-neutral proposed FY2026 budget, calls public hearing for June 3

Cleveland County Manager David Cott presented a revenue-neutral proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 to the Cleveland County Board of Commissioners and asked the board to set a public hearing for June 3 at 6 p.m. in the commissioners' chambers.

Cott said the proposal is “a revenue neutral fiscal year 20 five‑twenty 6 proposed budget” and described revenues, major drivers, and next steps for public review. He told commissioners the budget document would be available at the clerk’s office, county library branches and online beginning the following day.

The proposed general‑fund revenues include just over $59,600,000 in ad valorem (property) taxes, Cott said. He highlighted a $3,000,000 increase in permits and fees — a 220% rise — that he attributed almost dollar‑for‑dollar to the 2 Kings Casino project and described as a one‑time spike tied to that $1,000,000,000 project. Cott also said investment earnings are expected to be about $2,000,000 lower next year because reserves set aside for the Justice Center construction are being drawn down.

Cott outlined a proposed county tax rate of 54.5¢ per $100 valuation. He described the distribution of the levy and the county’s support for schools: the county would continue a 14¢ component dedicated to Cleveland County Schools, and Cott reported that the county’s school support totals $35,000,000 for the school system in the proposed budget, the same as the current year. He said the 14¢ for schools and approximately 10¢ from the general fund together amount to about 24¢ of the total levy that supports the local school system.

On expenditures, Cott said the unedited requests from departments and outside agencies totaled about $141,000,000. He recommended a general‑fund budget of $111,340,000 — roughly $2,000,000 less than the current year and about $30,000,000 (27%) less than the aggregate requests. All‑funds spending, including enterprise and special funds, he said, is about $240,000,000.

Cott proposed funding eight of 30 requested positions, listing examples that include a fire inspector, custodial positions to bring contracted services in‑house, and making an existing part‑time boat systems technician full time. He said major functional spending remains concentrated in public safety, education and human services, which together make up about 63.5% of expenditures.

On the solid‑waste enterprise fund, Cott said the county needs to construct a new municipal solid‑waste cell (Cell 4) and that roughly $9,800,000 of an approximately $8,000,000–$9,800,000 enterprise fund increase would be capital outlay for that construction; he noted the solid‑waste capital would be funded from the enterprise fund and not the general fund.

Cott asked the board to set a public hearing on the proposed budget for June 3 at 6 p.m. The board voted to set the hearing; the motion carried with all members saying “aye.”

The manager said the budget message, budget details and budget ordinance would be available for public inspection at the clerk’s office, county libraries and online, and that the materials would go live the next morning to allow public review before the hearing.

The presentation was followed by brief comments from several commissioners thanking staff for the work on a revenue‑neutral proposal that includes employee raises and maintains services.

Next steps: public inspection of the budget documents and the June 3 public hearing, after which the board may consider adopting a budget ordinance.