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County manager warns of state and federal changes that could shift costs to counties; announces major local expansion
Summary
The county manager briefed commissioners on state proposals that could affect county revenues and land-use authority and outlined possible federal changes to SNAP and Medicaid that may raise county costs. He also announced Project HOME 2 (BSH expansion) with 199 jobs and an $11 million investment.
Craven County’s manager updated the Board of Commissioners on emerging state and federal policy items that could affect county finances and local authority, and reported a major local business expansion.
The manager said counties are monitoring a proposal to use a portion of Article 42 sales tax revenue to help fund Viper, the statewide radio system used by public safety agencies. He described the proposal as a potential precedent for diverting county sales-tax revenue to state priorities.
On land-use authority, the manager highlighted legislation evolving from House Bill 765 and House Bill 729 into Senate Bill 205. He said the bill would significantly restrict local planning and zoning authority by shifting many decisions to staff-level approvals and could expose individual commissioners or planning-board members to liability if decisions are later challenged in court. He said parts of the bill remain in flux.
The manager asked Social Services Director Jeff Merritt to brief the board on federal proposals that may affect county-administered benefits. Merritt said two federal changes under consideration could shift costs to counties: an administrative-reimbursement change for SNAP that would increase the county share of administrative costs from 50% to 75% (the county’s estimated share impact is about $575,000) and a proposed mechanism tying state error rates to benefit-sharing liabilities; if a state has an error rate greater than 10% it could be required to pay a share that would effectively shift additional costs downstream. Using state budget estimates, Merritt said the county’s estimated SNAP benefit distribution is about $38,000,000 in FY25–26 and that a 15% exposure on benefits could translate to a multi-million-dollar impact (staff estimated roughly $5.7 million in a scenario described in the briefing). He warned that those figures depend on final state and federal decisions and that staff and legislators are tracking the proposals.
On local economic development, the manager announced Project HOME 2, a BSH expansion in Craven County that the manager said will create 199 new jobs with an average salary of $60,779 and a capital investment of $11,000,000. He credited county economic-development staff and partners for the win.
The manager also described airport infrastructure needs related to apron and taxiway work to support new leases on the Creekside Park side of the airport and said timing and phasing will determine whether the airport moves forward immediately or phases the work.
What’s next
County officials said they will remain engaged with legislators and state agencies as bills progress and that departments are assessing potential budgetary impacts. Merritt said county staff are discussing implementation details with state partners and monitoring timelines; the manager said the legislative process is active and could shift through the summer.
No board action was taken; the update was informational.
