Randolph County adopts $202.34 million budget, keeps tax rate at 50¢; approves school and fire district levies

The Randolph County Board of Commissioners on the evening of the board's final budget session approved a $202,339,523 fiscal year 2025-26 budget, set the county ad valorem tax rate at 50¢ per $100 valuation and approved a series of related tax district changes, budget closeouts and fund adjustments.

Chairman (name not specified) opened the meeting by noting the session was “planned for our last budget meeting tonight” and thanked residents for their participation. Will (staff member), presenting the close‑out adjustments, said, “We have a variety of, close out adjustments. Some for the general fund and some for some capital projects.”

Why it matters: The adopted budget packages recurring county services, new position funding and salary/benefit increases while authorizing transfers and project-specific appropriations that county leaders said are intended to preserve services such as public safety, public health and schools.

Budget total and tax rate The board approved a final budget of $202,339,523 after two late additions: $225,860 split between the two local school systems (allocation described below) and a 2% retention pay adjustment for 911 operators (an additional $57,509.90). The board set the county ad valorem tax rate at 50¢ per $100 valuation.

Commissioners and staff said the budget uses all reasonably expected property and sales tax revenue and does not rely on the Medicaid expansion hold‑harmless funds the county had used previously; the chair summarized the fiscal constraints by saying the county “has used all of the landfill money” and noted the loss of prior Medicaid hold harmless dollars.

Close‑out adjustments and capital commitments Will described several year‑end budget amendments the board approved as a block, including accruals for contract performance incentives, invoice reserves, timber receipts that by law must be distributed to two school systems, and transfers from a capital designation to cover previously committed school project costs. The presentation named three commitments: roughly $7.1 million (Sam's school match), about $8.1 million committed to Randolph County Schools (land and future schools) and $300,000 set aside for a pay‑as‑you‑go capital project. Will also asked the board to authorize staff to recognize and process a state‑directed grant administered through the Department of Environmental Quality.

Opioid settlement funds The board voted to include an additional $300,000 from the opioid settlement/abatement funds for collaborative strategic planning and administrative support tied to the county's opioid abatement account. The chair summarized prior spending: $73,000 in FY24 and about $104,000 in FY25, leaving roughly $76,000 unspent; the requested $300,000 was described as carrying the county forward while providing technical assistance to ensure compliance with the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA).

School and fire tax districts The board acted on supplemental and district levies: it approved a 1¢ increase in the Archdale‑Trinity supplemental school tax (from 0.0803 to 0.0903) to fund school resource officers at five elementary schools in that attendance area. The Asheboro City School tax district rate was left unchanged at 0.1153.

Separately, five fire tax districts asked for increases; the board approved the requests as follows (each action voted individually, then the remaining districts were approved en bloc): - Climax: approved increase to 18¢ (an increase described as about 0.0037 in rate language in materials); - East Side: approved increase from 15¢ to 17¢; - Level Cross: approved increase from 15¢ to 17¢ (board settled on a 2¢ increase instead of the 3¢ requested); - Randleman: approved increase to 17¢; - Westside: approved increase from 15¢ to 16¢; The board then approved the remainder of the fire district tax recommendations for other named districts (Bennett Coleridge, Fair Grove, Farmer, Franklinville, Gillbran, Julian, Lehi Cross, Seagrove, New Hope, Staley, Tabernacle and Eula) as presented.

Other approvals The board approved the county fee schedule changes presented only by the Health Department and approved a $70,000 appropriation to the Communities and Schools agency with Commissioner Daryl recused from that vote. The board also amended the Emergency Telephone System Fund (the 9‑1‑1 fund) to recognize a $227,006.25 distribution the county recently learned it would receive, reducing the appropriation from fund balance and matching revenues to expenditures without changing the total fund budget.

Votes and procedure Several items were approved by block vote after commissioners were offered the chance to pull individual items for separate consideration. Where a speaker moved an item it was seconded and put to voice vote; the chair announced approvals throughout the meeting. The budget adoption motion to adopt the 2025‑26 budget ordinance (including the two late additions) passed unanimously.

What remains procedural: staff will finalize the formal budget ordinance, process the grant documentation and the DEQ contract for the state‑directed grant, and complete the transfers to capital accounts to match earlier commitments to school projects.

Quotes from the meeting “We have a variety of, close out adjustments. Some for the general fund and some for some capital projects,” Will (staff member) said while summarizing the amendments. “This budget includes every dollar of property tax that we think we can reasonably and expect to receive,” Chairman (name not specified) said when outlining revenue assumptions. “I just wanna say thank you all. You've been very gracious over the last few months while we've tried to put this together,” Zed (county manager) said near the meeting's close.

Next steps and timeline County staff will finalize the ordinance language and execute required grant documents and MOA‑related approvals. The board did not set additional formal deadlines during the session; staff indicated the fiscal year ends June 30 and the new fiscal year begins in July.

Ending The board adjourned after the final votes and brief closing remarks.