Council holds part 1 public hearing on FY 2025-26 budget; vote set for June 20

The City of Easley held the first of two public hearings on June 9 for Ordinance 2025-06, the proposed operating budget for the fiscal period July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026. No vote was taken at the work session; the council scheduled the final public hearing and vote for June 20 at 8:30 a.m.

Councilmembers debated several budget highlights: a proposed millage increase discussed as roughly three mills (an estimated $393,000 in additional revenue), funding requests for public works and traffic projects and personnel increases across departments. Council members repeatedly framed the budget in terms of growth and service demand; as one councilmember said, "You have to, in my opinion, raise taxes to keep up with inflation and so" when arguing that modest tax increases are necessary to maintain services.

Senator Rex Rice has requested that the city contribute about $400,000 toward the Glenwood and Olive roundabout, and councilmembers discussed options for handling the paving fund that holds roughly that same amount. A staff member explained the mechanics: the money is in the paving fund and could be allocated or reserved; a staff recommendation was to create a time-limited segregation. As one staff advisor recommended: "If you do a motion, give it an expiration date. So, make a motion to set this aside for 6 months. And then in 6 months, you would be, reviewing it to make sure you still wanna do that."

Council also discussed technology and systems changes. Staff reported a proposed technology enhancement line of about $750,000 to replace accounting and payroll systems and to consolidate mobile-device, cellular and tablet costs into a single line. As staff described the vendor change: "We're changing the, BS and A. Does all our payroll say? He can explain it... We're wanting to move to Edmonds." Implementation-year costs were described as about $160,000 with recurring costs around $50,000.

Other budget questions raised on the record included alarm-fee collection costs (an estimated $6,000–$7,500 to contract for billing and collections), sanitation salary line changes, recreation department staffing increases (including a deputy director and other positions), and a 4% cost-of-living adjustment for full-time staff with targeted compensation adjustments for police and fire tied to a 2023 compensation study.

Councilmembers expressed differing views on the package: one said, "I'm not comfortable with it," while another, who noted long-term service needs, said the increases were needed to maintain public safety and public works. Mayor Talbot said staff had urged support and that she would back the budget, stating: "those people have asked me to stand for this budget and that's what I'm gonna do."

The council did not adopt the budget at the work session. The next public hearing and the council's vote on Ordinance 2025-06 are scheduled for June 20 at 8:30 a.m.