Pender County adopts budget that preserves tax rate and adds $150,000 merit pool for employees

Pender County commissioners approved a fiscal-year budget on June 26 that keeps the county's current property tax rate and includes roughly $5.3 million in direct investments for county employees, plus a $150,000 merit-based pool added by motion during the vote.

Finance presenter Miss Blue, county finance staff, told the board the proposal includes a 3% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), a step increase for employees who have been with the county more than a year that she described as about 1.25% (roughly $570,000), and reclassifications of about 222 positions costing approximately $3.4 million, which she summarized as a roughly 12% overall increase in employee compensation from last year. "This budget does maintain the current tax rate," Miss Blue said during her presentation.

The budget also addresses the county's allocation to public schools. Miss Blue said the local school system requested $31 million to maintain services and $33 million to advance programs; the county's calculation placed its contribution about $142,000 above the statutory minimum funding formula after accounting for local Average Daily Membership and an employment cost index. Several commissioners urged additional attention to school capital needs and asked for a joint meeting with the Board of Education before final allocations are locked in.

Commissioner Tate moved to approve the budget with an amendment to add a $150,000 merit-based pool for employees; the motion also included direction to the manager to schedule a meeting with the Board of Education within 30 days to discuss school concerns raised during the session. The board voted to approve the budget; during the roll call the chair stated there was one opposing vote and one absence. The motion carried and the board recorded the budget as adopted.

Commissioners and members of the public raised several other budget issues during debate. Commissioners criticized the county's contracted services line, which was discussed as approximately $8.4 million (some items noted as contract-obligated, such as solid waste provider GFL). Multiple commissioners urged staff to reexamine contracting choices and vehicle-replacement practices as potential areas for savings. One commissioner also urged a reduction in the ad valorem tax rate by 5 cents, citing the county's fund balance; Finance staff reported an ending fund balance of $71,000,000 and an unassigned portion of roughly $61,000,000 at the end of last fiscal year.

On utilities, Miss Williams, county utilities staff, told the board the sewer fund had decreased from the prior year but was not in the red; she explained the county currently serves mainly commercial accounts and schools and has limited residential sewer customers but is working on expanding residential sewer through developments such as the Falls Mist project, which is expected to add residential sewer customers when its on-site system is completed and contributed to county operations.

Board members also expressed concern about employee retention and pay equity. Miss Blue and the interim county manager described the reclassification and step program as the first step toward correcting longstanding salary inconsistencies, noting most reclassifications affect lower-graded positions. "The plan rewards you for doing your job and doing it well and doing it long and being loyal to Pender County," the interim manager said when describing the classification and step plan changes.

The board voted on the amended motion to adopt the budget with the $150,000 merit pool; the chair announced the measure carried with one opposing vote and one absence. No further changes to the adopted tax rate were made at the meeting.

The county will now implement the adopted budget and follow the board's direction to arrange a meeting with the Board of Education to review outstanding school funding and operational concerns.