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Resident criticizes town-run childcare costs; police chief says childcare key to full staffing
Summary
A resident told council that taxpayer subsidies for the town's employee childcare program far exceed market cost, citing a Duke University study and town budget figures. Police Chief Nathan Curtis responded that the childcare benefit has enabled the police department to be fully staffed and retain officers.
A Blowing Rock resident on Aug. 12 urged the council to reconsider the town's employee childcare program, saying the subsidy imposes a large cost on taxpayers. Police Chief Nathan Curtis answered that the program has been a critical employee benefit that helped the department achieve full staffing.
"My name is Gigi Poole. I live at 147 Dogwood Lane, and I'm coming back to talk again about stewardship that I spoke about in June," Poole told the council. She cited a Duke University study posted on the town's website and said the study put the market rate for full-time childcare at about $800 per month.
Poole said the town charges its employees $400 per month and that the childcare center serves 12 children with an annual operating budget of $188,000. She said a one-time retrofit of the building cost between $110,000 and $115,000 and provided per-child and annualized calculations: "So added together, the cost to taxpayers each year is $17,542 per child, less the $4,800 received from the employee. So $12,742 per year per child is the cost to taxpayers. That cost is 265% more than if the employee continued to pay $400 per month and the town paid the other $400 at a private sector market rate."
Police Chief Nathan Curtis addressed council later in the meeting in remarks about the department's staffing and benefits. Curtis said the child-care benefit "has enabled us to be fully staffed. We're the only community in the high country fully staffed. Five of our police officers have children over there. If we didn't have the daycare, they'd be in Hickory, Lenoir, Boone, wherever." He framed childcare as an employee benefit that supports recruitment and retention.
The remarks at the meeting consisted of a public commentator's numerical claims and a departmental statement on operational impact. Council did not take action on the matter at the meeting; Poole's figures were presented as her interpretation of study and budget numbers and were not independently verified during the session.
Next steps: No formal action or staff directive on the daycare pricing was recorded in the meeting minutes.
