Johnston County budget hearing draws funding requests from district attorney, schools and nonprofits

Johnston County commissioners opened a public hearing June 2 on the manager's proposed fiscal year 2025'26 budget and heard a string of funding requests from the district attorney's office, the county school system and local nonprofits seeking continued or new county support.

District Attorney Susan Doyle told the board the local office needs the three positions the county currently funds to meet rising workloads tied to the state's eCourts rollout. "It has increased the workload," Doyle said, and she asked the commissioners to continue funding the two legal assistant slots and one assistant district attorney now paid locally. Doyle said the county's share for the three positions in the manager's proposed budget is $256,364 and repeated that she expects the positions should ultimately be state-funded.

The request underscored a theme repeated by other presenters: agencies say state or federal funding shortfalls and administrative changes are increasing local demand. County Manager Rick Hester had opened the hearing by reminding the public that the manager's plan is a proposal the board will refine before a final vote expected June 16.

Johnston County Public Schools Chair Lynn Andrews gave the board a detailed breakdown of the district's local request, saying the district is the seventh-largest in the state with enrollment of about 37,000 students and urging continued local support for teacher pay, operations and capital needs. "We are the seventh largest district in the state, enrollment of over 37,000," Andrews said. The school system is asking the county for roughly $10,082,706 in local expense to cover items including the local share of state employee raises, curriculum purchases, custodial costs and charter-school pass-throughs.

Key numbers Andrews presented: - Two new district-wide curriculums (ELA and science) cost roughly $9 million; the district asked the county for $1.7 million toward those purchases. - The district projects about $12 million in annual utility costs and estimates charter schools would receive roughly $11 million of local pass-through funding if the request is approved (charter passthrough was estimated at about $1.1 million in new local cost tied to this request). - The district said it has removed 72 portable/mobile classroom units over the last year and still has about 85 in use.

Andrews and finance staff also reiterated the district's concern about volatility in state funding and said the district aims to keep a fund balance near $13 million to smooth cycles of federal and state aid.

Nonprofit and other presenters also spoke during the hearing. Kaye Johnson, executive director of Harbor Inc., said demand for domestic-violence advocacy and shelter has risen sharply and asked the county to fund two additional full-time core advocates to handle intake and e-file requirements when they move to electronic court filings; Harbor reported a roughly 15% increase in clients year over year and said it expects to serve more than 3,100 people by the end of its fiscal year.

Leanne Hammelbacher of Triangle Land Conservancy asked the board to amend the budget to include $1,395,000 in local funds to leverage roughly $7.165 million in state and private matching money to protect more than 1,000 acres in four projects, including closing the Rose Dairy conserved property (a remaining gap of about $250,000) and an assemblage along the Neuse River.

Johnston Community College President Bert Lindquist described a modest increase in the college's request and invited school staff and county leaders to meet to clarify textbook and College Promise funding flows. The college said enrollment growth this year has been strong and that its new workforce development/advanced manufacturing facility should be ready for county visits by mid-June.

Mark Hall of Hope Center Ministries outlined the faith-based recovery nonprofit's recently opened women's campus in Wilson's Mills and requested county assistance to open a men's facility at the Eastfields site debt-free. Hall described local economic effects of the nonprofit's work, including about $1 million in 2024 payroll tied to graduates and local contracts of roughly $3.6 million for site preparation and construction activity.

Tax Administrator Jocelyn Andrews briefed the board on property-tax appeals and relief programs that affect revenue projections. She said the county had received 4,023 appeals on the revaluation overall (about $2.6 billion in value originally appealed), with about half still unresolved. She also said elderly and disabled property-tax relief applications rose to 642 this filing period (up from 431 last year) and reminded the public that state rules set program eligibility and income thresholds.

Why it matters: the items raised at the hearing are the kinds of recurring, multi-agency requests that drive the board's budget choices. The manager's proposal remains a starting point; commissioners must weigh one-time capital needs, continuing personnel costs and requests that the county treat as time-limited or permanent while also accounting for ongoing uncertainty from outstanding tax appeals.

Votes at a glance: during the meeting the board approved the agenda (the manager's proposal with item 8 removed at the presenters' request) and the consent agenda by voice vote; both motions were carried. The board also adopted proclamations recognizing World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (June 15) and the Johnston Soil and Water Conservation District's 60th anniversary; both proclamations passed by voice vote. Later the board voted to enter closed session under the statute cited in the meeting for economic-development discussions.

Discussion vs. decisions: the hearing was a public-comment format and did not produce final budget votes. Presenters asked the board to include specific amounts in the final budget; commissioners and staff asked clarifying questions about costs, time-limited funding and whether items would be absorbed in the manager's proposed budget. Several presenters said their requests were intended as stopgaps until state or grant funding could be secured.

Next steps: the board scheduled additional budget work sessions and a final adoption vote for mid-June. Commissioners and staff said they will continue to update revenue projections as appeals are resolved and will consider the requests presented when finalizing appropriations.