Easly City presents $24.5 million general fund budget; council weighs pay increases and new public-safety positions

Easly City staff on a May work session presented the first reading of Ordinance 20 25 06, the proposed annual operating budget for fiscal year July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026, and described the major revenue and expenditure items, staffing requests and capital projects.

Tom, the staff presenter, said the general fund in the proposed budget is about $24.5 million and highlighted a proposed 3-mill property tax increase; staff provided an example that the 3-mill increase would cost the owner of a $200,000 home roughly $24 per year. The hospitality tax and related funds total roughly $9 million and staff proposed using about $5,000,000 from the hospitality fund balance to expand fields and parking at JB Red Owens soccer fields.

The budget uses fund balance to balance operations. Staff said the proposal uses roughly $900,000 from fund balance; overall fund balance is about $9–10 million, and staff noted a recommended reserve equal to about two months of operating costs (just under $4.5 million). Staff also said American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) proceeds had increased fund balance in earlier years by about $10,000,000, which was a one-time boost.

Personnel and pay were a central topic. The proposed budget includes a 4% cost-of-living adjustment for full-time employees, with larger increases potentially available for first responders through existing step or merit programs. The document adds 14 new full-time positions: six firefighters and four police officers among them. Staff said the city requested fewer firefighters than the department asked for (6 in the budget versus 12 requested). Council members pressed staff on recruitment and retention: multiple speakers cited regional pay comparisons showing nearby jurisdictions advertising starting salaries for noncertified firefighters in the mid-to-high $40,000s, and raised concerns that Easly City’s entry pay may be insufficient to attract and keep qualified applicants.

Fire and police staffing were linked to the city’s Insurance Services Office (ISO) rating. Staff reported an ISO score decline of about 2.3 points tied primarily to staffing and response factors; leaders said the decline did not immediately change insurance classifications but warned continued declines could raise insurance costs for residents.

Capital projects and impact fees were detailed. Notable items include a $400,000 side-loader garbage truck, a planned grading cost for a future fire station (staff estimated grading could cost roughly $300,000), vehicle and equipment replacements for police and public works, body and in-car camera upgrades and recurring costs for camera systems. The police impact fee fund currently contains about $100,000 but staff said bids for the planned training room came back too high and that about $188,000 will be budgeted in the next fiscal year. Transportation impact fees were earmarked for a parking lot behind the law enforcement center; staff said a county grant (ATAX) application was pending.

Other funds: staff said the road-fee fund holds roughly $400,000 and will remain its own fund for paving or other eligible road projects; council members raised concerns about the county’s use of county road funds and said they may investigate whether the county is spending funds outside municipalities. A TIF fund set-aside of $60,000 was proposed for a downtown façade grant program.

Several council members asked for more time and documents to review the proposed budget and questioned the outreach/retreat process; staff noted a budget retreat had been held earlier in the year and that the first reading was scheduled for May with final adoption expected after a second reading in June. No final votes were taken on the budget during the session.