Southampton County board holds public hearing on proposed FY2025 real property tax rate

The Southampton County Board of Supervisors on May 29 held a public hearing on the proposed FY2025 budget and a real property tax rate set at $0.71 per $100 of assessed value.

Lynette, a county staff member, told the board the rate sheet in front of supervisors showed the real estate tax rate at $0.71 per $100 and that personal property tax had been returned to $5 per $100. "The main thing is so we put the additional $175,045 into the school budget, and we took out some money from the stabilization fund," Lynette said, adding that the change was needed after staff found an omitted local-match calculation. She said the adjustment was intended to avoid losing approximately $330,000 in state funds that support basic aid and incentive programs such as pre-K and K–3 small-class initiatives. She also said about $49,000 of the needed revenue came from recent water and sewer rate adjustments.

A county staff member who opened the hearing emphasized that aside from internal reallocations the board's previously discussed rates remained in place and that the only remaining meeting before budget adoption was scheduled for June 4 at 6:00 p.m.

During public comment, Sarah thanked the board for its work on balancing the budget. Zuber, a county staff member who oversees collections, described the legal and procedural limits on collecting delinquent accounts and said he was pursuing all state-authorized collection methods. "I can only collect the last 3 years on solid waste," Zuber said, and he described using intercepts (for example, state lottery winnings and tax refunds) to recover funds. Zuber offered to present a fuller rundown of the collection process at the next meeting.

A supervisor asked staff to supply a categorical five-year breakdown of arrears (this year and the four prior years) and a comparison of what other counties carry as a percentage of outstanding debt in their budgets to help evaluate the stated cumulative delinquency figure discussed at the hearing.

The board did not take a formal vote on the tax rate that night. Chairman Edwards closed the public hearing and announced the county will finalize the budget and any rate actions at the June 4 meeting at 6:00 p.m. A supervisor moved to adjourn, a second was given, and the board adjourned by voice vote.

The county staff member who presented the budget materials said the full and final budget document and rate sheets were included in the meeting materials and will be revisited at the June 4 meeting.