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Swain County reviews FY2025–26 budget; salary study and insurance increases drive changes
Summary
County budget staff presented the FY2025–26 draft showing a roughly $1.7 million salary-study impact, an increase in per-employee health insurance to about $11,000 and removal of a prior $900,000 project that reduced the current request. Commissioners continued review; no formal votes were taken.
Swain County commissioners met in a budget work session to review department requests and the proposed FY2025–26 general fund. County budget staff said the county faces a major cost driver in a recent salary study — roughly $1.7 million — and a rise in estimated health-insurance costs to about $11,000 per employee.
The salary-study figures were presented in two columns: requested 25/26 assuming the existing salary grades and requested per study showing the effect of regrading positions to the study recommendations. Lottie, the budget presenter, said the salary study “was about 1,700,000.0” when she ran the numbers and emphasized that the draft removes a prior-year one-time project worth roughly $900,000 that had appeared in last year’s base, which reduces the new-year total compared with an apples-to-apples comparison.
Why it matters: the salary-study scenario and insurance assumptions materially change the county’s projected payroll, retirement and workers’ compensation lines. Commissioners asked staff for clearer projections of end-of-year surpluses, auditors’ adjusting entries and the timing of the figures, since auditors’ adjustments typically continue through June and can change department balances.
County staff noted the retirement employer match will rise to about 14.4% beginning July 1, which further increases payroll-related costs. The session included line-by-line discussion of department budgets, mandated state requirements such as finance officer bond increases, and anticipated audit-cost changes tied to a single-auditor arrangement. No formal adoption or vote occurred during the work session; the board directed staff to refine numbers and return with comparative reports showing 2023–24 actuals, 2024–25 projections and the 2025–26 requests.
Staff said they will provide updated reports on carryovers, department surpluses or overruns, and any insurance responses on large capital failures (for example jail-control-panel claims) before commissioners act on a budget. The board scheduled further review at a later meeting to consider adjustments and next steps.
