Chatham County manager presents FY‑26 recommended budget; officials schedule work sessions after public hearing

Chatham County officials opened the first public hearing on the county’s recommended fiscal year 2026 budget on May 19, where County Manager Brian Thompson gave a high-level overview and staff received public input on several budget priorities.

Thompson described the recommended tax rate and revenue assumptions, staffing and program changes, and a timeline for review. The presentation and the public hearing focused attention on public safety staffing, school funding, election-office staffing and services for adults with developmental disabilities.

Key fiscal points: the recommended property tax rate included in the budget presentation is 60¢ per $100 of assessed valuation. Thompson said the county’s current rate is 72.5¢ and the county’s revenue-neutral rate following revaluation is about 52.96¢. Staff noted slower local sales-tax receipts compared with the state average and recommended revenue assumptions that reflect that trend. The manager cited major expense drivers as salary adjustments (including a recommended 4% salary adjustment and continued implementation of a two‑thirds pay study), contractual increases and capital needs.

Major program and expenditure highlights: the recommended budget includes approximately $2.4 million in additional funding for Chatham County Schools. That allocation is intended to cover anticipated state salary adjustments, higher benefit and retirement costs, operational increases, continuation of the district’s universal breakfast and lunch program and an estimated $550,000 to provide a $400 base increase to the local teacher supplement and a $100 increase to classified staff supplements. The sheriff’s office requested an increase of roughly $2.3 million (9.4% over FY25 revised) that the manager said would fund continued rollout of body cameras, contractual increases, technology and expansion items including six deputy positions and other staffing increases.

Other adjustments and fees: the budget document includes fee changes to the planning department to reflect cost recovery under the new Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) and increases in the solid-waste enterprise fund: a $20 increase in solid-waste fees, a $5-per-ton rise in yard-waste disposal and a $15-per-ton increase for land‑clearing and inert debris disposal. The manager said additional positions were proposed across multiple departments and highlighted capital and cloud-migration investments.

Public testimony and priorities: public commenters urged the county to add an election coordinator position to handle compressed state processing deadlines, poll-worker training and public-records demands under recently changed state election laws. Speakers from the League of Women Voters and members of the Board of Elections described legal and operational changes that shrink processing time for absentee and provisional ballots and asked the board to fund additional staffing to avoid overtime and compliance risks. Members of disability‑support groups and family members also urged the board to fund a new day program for adults with developmental disabilities; presenters asked the board to maintain a recommended startup allocation for a program to be operated by a third‑party provider and noted local demand identified through surveys.

Process and next steps: Thompson told the board the budget is available online and in the clerk’s office and that staff will hold meetings in Pittsboro and Siler City, followed by a sequence of work sessions to refine priorities. He said staff will bring a revised proposed budget to the board for consideration on June 16 and encouraged board members and the public to send questions to assistant county manager Daryl Butts in advance of the work sessions.

Ending: The board closed the public hearing after hearing 16 registered speakers. Commissioners and staff will consider the public input during scheduled budget work sessions and return a revised document in June.