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County board approves staff positions, employee bonuses and park-capital appropriation as part of FY25 budget talks
Summary
During an extended budget work session the board approved five recommended staff positions, a one-time employee bonus program and set aside $1.1 million from fund balance for park capital; commissioners also approved a plan to reduce the countywide cost-of-living increase by one point to fund two parks positions from available funds.
Halifax County commissioners on Monday moved multiple staffing and one-time funding items forward as part of the FY25/26 budget review.
Key approvals and directions
- Positions: The board approved creation/filling of five positions that county management recommended in the proposed FY25/26 budget. County Manager Rayna Denton and staff described the recommended package as focused on law enforcement coverage (road deputies), DSS supervision and information-technology support for county software systems (Munis). The county manager said the 5 positions are funded in the proposed spending plan; two deputy positions were among the items discussed by commissioners as immediate law-enforcement needs. Vice Chair Davis moved approval; Commissioner Burrett seconded and the board voted aye.
- Employee one-time bonus: Commissioners approved a one-time, nonrecurring bonus of $1,000 for full-time county employees and $500 for regular part-time employees, to be funded from available fund balance. The board voted to adopt the bonus funding in recognition of county staff; the motion passed unanimously.
- Parks capital reserve: The board approved appropriating $1,100,000 from fund balance into a capital reserve fund for park development (leftover ARPA-designated funds previously committed at year-end). The resolution and transfer will be processed before July 1, staff said, and the money will be held in the county capital reserve for future park land acquisition or capital projects.
- Lake Gaston weed-control funding: The board voted to include grant funding for the Lake Gaston Weed Control Council (approximately $1.16 million was discussed in the budget materials). County legal staff and management clarified the appropriation is structured as grant funding and contingent on an executed grant agreement; funds will not be disbursed until required contract and compliance steps are completed.
- Compensation and pay plan changes: Manager Denton presented a proposed across-the-board cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) and step increases. Commissioners directed staff to reduce the COLA from 4% to 3% (freeing roughly 1% of payroll costs) and to use the $56,000 in one-time excess revenue together with the freed-up payroll dollars to fund the initial creation of two parks-and-recreation positions and related start-up operating costs. The board made that allocation by motion (Commissioner Barrows moved; Commissioner Webb seconded) and voted aye.
- Detention center pay: The manager said she had proposed a grade increase for detention center positions equivalent to an additional 5% grade change; after the board discussion the board accepted the existing grade increase and adjusted the overall fiscal math so detention positions will receive an 8% total increase (combining the grade adjustment and the 3% COLA) rather than the 9% originally proposed; this change was implemented administratively and did not require creating additional positions at this meeting.
Board members and staff said several requests from departments were reduced or deferred to balance hiring priorities and to avoid an immediate tax-rate increase. Manager Denton said most of the requested positions were partially funded by federal or state sources (for example, the DSS supervisor positions have a substantial federal/state funding share) and that the county set aside a small ITS funding line that partly covered an IT position.
Why it matters: the actions put personnel and one-time capital money into the FY25 budget trajectory. Approving positions and bonuses affects recurring personnel costs and fund-balance levels; the $1.1 million capital reserve preserves ARPA-derived funds for parks projects but reduces the county fund balance available for other one-time uses.
Ending note: staff will bring a balanced ordinance and a complete FY25/26 proposed budget back to the board on May 19; the ordinance will be posted for the required 10-day layover followed by a public hearing and final adoption in June.
