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Burke County adopts $116.2 million FY2025-26 budget, reduces proposed tax rate
Summary
The Burke County Board of Commissioners adopted a $116.2 million FY2025-26 budget and approved related agreements and nonprofit allocations. The budget includes a proposed 55.5¢ property tax rate (balanced on 55.5¢), a modest decrease relative to prior years, and increased investments in education and public safety.
The Burke County Board of Commissioners voted 4–0 on June 16 to adopt the Fiscal Year 2025–26 budget ordinance (No. 2025‑07), approving a general fund plan with $116,200,000 in revenues and targeted investments in education, public safety and economic development.
County Manager Brian Manning, in a detailed presentation before the vote, said the budget is intended to align with the board’s strategic priorities and to ‘‘manufacture’’ flexibility through revenue diversification and cost savings. ‘‘I think the state of the county is strong,’’ Manning said as he summarized priorities including economic development, human capital investments and a continuation of the capital improvement plan.
The manager told the board the budget is balanced on a 55.5¢ tax rate and incorporates a roughly 1% proposed decrease in the property tax rate compared with the prior levy. The proposal allocates about $20.5 million to Burke County Public Schools, proposes a 2.6% increase for Western Piedmont Community College and includes a year‑three $425,000 capital preference allocation for the community college’s sinking fund.
Manning also outlined fee and rate adjustments intended to stabilize enterprise funds: a change in building inspection and environmental health fees by about $25, an increase in the monthly sewer base fee from $25 to $30 (with no consumption rate changes), and household solid‑waste fee adjustment from $88 to $92 to offset anticipated tipping‑fee increases.
Board members moved and approved the ordinance after the chair opened and closed a public hearing with no commenters. The formal adoption was recorded as a 4–0 vote.
In the same meeting the board approved a memorandum of agreement with the Burke County Board of Education for FY2025‑26 and voted to fund the nonprofit allocations set in the budget. The board approved the non‑recused nonprofit funding items (vote 4–0); two nonprofit allocations (BDI and VEDIC) required recusals by commissioners and were handled separately, with VEDIC’s item held for later clarification because the recusals raised a potential quorum issue.
Manning told commissioners the budget assumes a conservative 98.5% collection rate for property tax collections and relies on a diversified revenue mix; property tax accounts for roughly 52.9% of the revenue portfolio. He said the county budgeted $825,000 of investment income for the year while noting investment income can be volatile.
The board also approved a year‑end budget amendment (No. 23) that closes and reallocates capital projects ($3,460,908) and authorized a $10,000,000 project ordinance to appropriate available capital for the school central office (estimated total project cost about $11.5 million).
The meeting record shows the budget adoption vote and the related motions passed without dissent and that staff will present several implementation and follow‑up items at future meetings.
