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Manager recommends 1.59'2 property tax increase amid $9.8M in cuts and options to avoid layoffs
Summary
County manager presented a recommended FY2025-26 budget that proposes a 1.59¢ property tax increase (from 0.469 to 0.485) to cover rising costs, includes $9.8 million in cut requests, and details potential deeper cuts required if commissioners opt for no tax increase.
The Alamance County manager presented her recommended fiscal year 2025-26 budget at the commissioners meeting, asking the board to consider a 1.59¢ increase in the property tax rate and outlining a series of cuts and trade-offs if the board prefers to keep taxes flat.
"I'm recommending a fiscally responsible budget that's built on transparency, accountability, and proactive budgeting," the manager said, opening her presentation. She told the board that a flat budget with no tax increase would require about $4.4 million in recurring service cuts and that fully funding all departmental requests would need a 6.1¢ increase.
The manager recommended increasing the tax rate from 0.469 to 0.485 (1.59¢). She said the increase would add about $52.80 annually on the median assessed home value in the county ($265,200) and about $31.84 on a $200,000 home. The presentation projected general-fund revenue of about $229.0 million and all-funds at about $291.8 million for the coming year.
To reduce costs the recommendation included: a 2% cost-of-living adjustment (down from a previously discussed 3%), a 2.5% merit pool, a hiring freeze on non-public-safety vacancies, cuts to travel and contracted services, and elimination or scaling back of some outside-agency grants totaling about $525,000. The manager also proposed no new general-fund vehicle purchases except ambulances and an emergency-management vehicle (saving about $965,000) and a halving of facilities maintenance contingency (saving about $100,000).
The manager said she shifted $10 million from current expense to school capital projects to support roofs and HVAC replacements, and that school resource officers would be moved to the sheriff's budget. She noted that four volunteer fire districts are also requesting tax increases for their own budgets and recommended further review with the board.
The manager said staff had applied a vacancy rate in DSS, EMS, Health and Detention for a projected savings of about $3.1 million. She also described potential deeper cuts that could be taken if the board insists on keeping taxes flat: closing library branches (a cited savings of roughly $1.3 million if several branches were closed), eliminating approximately 30 filled positions across non-mandated services, and cutting employee pay and benefits.
Commissioners and community members asked questions and debated priorities; the manager reminded the board of upcoming steps: a public hearing on the proposed budget on June 2, tentative work sessions on June 9 and June 10, and budget adoption scheduled for June 16.
No formal vote on the budget took place Monday; the presentation set the parameters for board deliberation ahead of the June public hearing and work sessions.
