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Surry County officials present FY 2026–27 departmental budget requests, highlight IT and detention costs
Summary
County department heads on March 31 presented FY 2026–27 budget requests covering Register of Deeds, MIS, Public Works, Building Inspections, the Sheriff’s Office, Emergency Services and the Health Department; highlights included $564,601 for the Register of Deeds, five MIS servers needing replacement, detention center medical costs and a Health Department personnel share of 96%.
Surry County department directors on March 31 outlined their FY 2026–27 budget requests to the Surry County Board of Commissioners, flagging information technology capital needs, detention center medical and vehicle replacements, and pressures in recycling markets.
The presentations began with Todd Harris, Register of Deeds, who asked the Board to support a $564,601 operating request for FY 2026–27, slightly below last year’s $566,520 request. Martha Brintle, MIS Director, said the department’s request is substantially higher this year to cover equipment maintenance, professional services and the planned replacement of five servers that she said should not be recurring costs.
Jessica Montgomery, Public Works Director, outlined a budget designed to maintain current service levels while addressing equipment replacement, facility improvements and regulatory compliance. Montgomery highlighted landfill operations, recycling programs and convenience centers, and cautioned that market values for recycling plastics and cardboard remain challenging.
Keith Kiger, Chief Building Codes Inspector, proposed adjustments to the building inspection fee schedule to better align commercial fees with surrounding counties, increase penalties for building without permits and add a new administrative consultation fee for commercial businesses; he said proposed changes would mainly affect commercial customers rather than most residential property owners.
Sheriff Steve Hiatt introduced newly appointed Chief Deputy Duane Blackburn and, with Budget Officer Justin Stirewalt, presented the Sheriff’s Office request covering the detention center, animal control, school resource officers, narcotics and pretrial release. Stirewalt and Hiatt identified detention center inmate medical expenses, vehicle replacement and inflationary supply costs as significant budget drivers.
Eric Southern, Emergency Services Director, accompanied by EMS operations staff, reviewed accomplishments and partnerships from the past year and presented operational projections and recommended fee increases and third‑party billing. Southern described staffing and retention challenges and discussed a proposed approach to addressing high‑utilization callers under the Mobile Integrated Health (MIH) program to reduce avoidable hospital transports.
Samantha Ange, Health Director, presented the Health Department submission and told the Board that the request reflects what was presented as an overall county change of a 14.7% increase and an overall decrease of 1.5% (as presented). Ange said 96% of the department’s budget is personnel and reported the department is now fully staffed; she emphasized cross‑training to limit additional funding requests.
Procedural votes at the meeting were limited: the Board unanimously approved the meeting agenda, later voted to enter closed session under North Carolina statutes for legal, real estate and personnel matters, and adjourned after returning from closed session. No formal budget approvals were recorded at the session.
The Emergency Services management presentation was saved to the county SharePoint folder for staff reference. The Board scheduled no votes on the departmental requests during the meeting; next steps for each departmental request were not specified in the minutes.
