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Burke County manager presents FY 2025–26 recommended budget; public hearing set for June 16
Summary
County manager presented a $116.2 million recommended budget for fiscal year 2025–26, proposes a 55.5¢ tax rate, a 2.25% cost-of-living adjustment for employees, fee changes for utilities and solid waste, and set a public hearing for June 16, 2025.
Burke County’s manager presented the recommended fiscal year 2025–26 budget Monday and the Board set a public hearing for June 16, 2025.
The proposed budget totals about $116.2 million, a 2.8% increase from the prior year. The manager recommended a property tax rate of 55.5 cents per $100 of assessed value and proposed a two-part personnel increase: a 2.25% cost-of-living adjustment and continued performance-based pay elements. The recommended budget includes a projected $6.1 million in EMS billing collections and preserves the county’s fund-balance and debt policies.
Staff outlined expense drivers including a projected 6% increase in employee health insurance costs, a state-mandated rise in retirement contribution rates, foster-kinship placement payments mandated by the state, and jail medical costs. The manager also described revenue assumptions: generally flat sales-tax (articles 39, 40, 42) projections for FY 2025–26 and a modest 1.96% growth in the county property tax base. Investment income assumptions were conservative in the budget book ($825,000) despite higher actual receipts in the current year.
Proposed fee changes include modest increases to building-inspection and environmental-health fees, an increase in the municipal household solid waste fee from $88 to $92 (passed through from the vendor), and a $5 raise in the flat water/sewer base fee (from $25 to $30 monthly). County staff also proposed moving some emergency-management functions and continued capital planning, including ongoing EMS headquarters and health-and-human-services facility projects.
Commissioners asked questions about proposed state changes that could affect revenues (discussion of a possible shift of Article 42 funds for state radio systems) and about the potential impact of pending legislation affecting ambulance-franchise authority. The board acknowledged receipt of the manager’s recommended budget by motion (5–0) and scheduled a public hearing for Monday, June 16, 2025, at 6 p.m.
