Swain County schedules June public hearing on balanced FY2025‑26 budget amid debate over salary study, comp time and vehicle purchases

Swain County Board of Commissioners on May 27 reviewed a proposed balanced FY2025‑26 budget, directed staff to place the draft on public display for the required review period and set a public hearing in June at 5:30 p.m. Commissioners spent the session discussing a newly implemented salary schedule, how overtime will be handled going forward, and a range of capital requests including patrol vehicles and ambulances.

County finance staff told the board the budget as presented is balanced and includes a proposed ad valorem tax rate of 41 cents. Staff said the county expects roughly $7.8 million in ad valorem receipts for the year and showed total receipts in the mid‑$24 million range compared with the prior year. Special appropriations in the draft budget, as presented, total about $4,745,580 and include requests for fire departments, the Marianna Black Library, and local school funding.

The presentation described how the salary study was applied across departments. The finance presenter said the new salary schedule produced grade changes for many positions and that raises and grade adjustments are included in the proposed budget. Commissioners discussed whether the salary changes will meaningfully improve recruitment and retention for positions such as paramedics and other front‑line staff.

Commissioners and staff discussed a county decision to shift some expected overtime costs into compensatory time. Staff described department‑level differences in how comp time is earned and managed: for the sheriff’s office and jail, the county will use an 86‑hour payroll schedule and said law‑enforcement comp time is capped so that up to 180 hours can be paid out each payroll; other employees were described as having a 240‑hour bank in current practice. Board members raised concerns that converting overtime to comp time could create large payout obligations if many employees separate at once, and asked staff to monitor balances and work with department heads to manage accumulations.

Public safety capital and staffing requests drew sustained attention. The sheriff requested 16 vehicles, a drone and building work; finance staff recommended funding six vehicles and suggested $450,000 in capital outlay for the sheriff’s office as a compromise. The jail control‑panel repair remained in the draft pending an insurance determination, the presenter said. EMS had requested two new ambulances but the draft includes funding for one ambulance; finance staff also left funding in place for two new EMS positions and increased operating and supply budgets tied to ambulance staffing.

Other departmental changes noted in the presentation included moving a tax office position to mapping to create redundancy, adding full‑time hours in elections, and targeted increases for building and grounds, recreation and sanitation. The recreation request for cameras was reduced: the presenter removed a $100,000 cameras request and recommended about $20,000 be left for lighting and limited camera purchases, noting gaps in Wi‑Fi that limit camera placement. A playground replacement was left as a phased, multi‑year project.

The draft special appropriations package included a variety of pass‑through and local grants: Bryson City’s request (presented as $225,000 requested, with $125,000 proposed in the draft), the Board of Education’s current expense request (shown in the materials as $1,863,000 requested; the presenter recommended $1.1 million for current expense and left capital and other appropriations in draft form), and other items including library increases, senior programs, transit, Southwestern Commission and juvenile crime prevention funding. Finance staff emphasized that some amounts shown are estimates or pass‑through funds and that final numbers could change through the remaining work sessions and the public hearing process.

On procedure, staff told the board the draft must be on public display for the statutory 10‑day review period before the public hearing; commissioners set a June evening public hearing at 5:30 p.m. (the presenter said the regular schedule would allow final action at the June regular meeting after hearing public comment). Several commissioners noted one additional work session is scheduled before the regular session and asked staff to provide a vehicle list and updated overtime and comp‑time summaries so the board can see department‑level impacts before adoption.

The board did not take a final adoption vote at the May 27 session. Next steps are the 10‑day public display, the June public hearing at 5:30 p.m. and a future regular session vote to adopt the final FY2025‑26 budget.