Hampton County budget workshop: tax offices, waste services and software gaps prompt questions

Hampton County officials presented a series of departmental budget summaries at the council’s April 27 budget workshop, highlighting staffing shortfalls in tax-related offices, modest increases for waste services and concerns about how the county tracks special-fee distributions.

Waste services: Glenn Samples reviewed the landfill request, saying the FY2027 budget would rise to $382,100 from $366,071 (an increase of $16,029) because of higher grinding and fuel costs; he reported two full-time employees, one part-time and an additional on-call worker and said the site’s revenue is primarily tonnage. Mr. Sanders outlined recycling and garbage operations and said the FY2027 request would rise from $830,011 to $868,763 (an increase of $38,752), largely reflecting a $2/hour raise for part-time staff across 10 locations and 20 part-time positions.

Tax and finance offices: Auditor Latonya Williams asked for a FY2027 budget of $202,184 (up $20,122) to fund a part-time position and address staffing, training and compliance needs; she said staffing shortages contributed to delayed tax bill mailings last year. Assessor Pandra Rice said the assessor’s office anticipates a countywide reassessment and has included postage and two field-technician positions in the request. Tax collector Delia described a FY2027 postage increase (about $30,000) to cover higher costs for certified and restricted mailings and explained the summer part-time posting clerk’s role for properties across the county. Treasurer Alice Wright Gordon noted only a small adjustment to her FY2027 request (up $4,166) tied to benefits and asked for building maintenance and cleaning of the treasurer’s office.

Fee-in-lieu accounting: Council members raised questions about a previously approved 'prosperity plan' ordinance allocating new fee-in-lieu revenue by percentage (variously cited as a 50%/20%/20%/10% split). Officials said the auditor bills fee-in-lieu amounts but the treasurer performs disbursements; they also said the county’s financial software (Springbrook/QS1) does not automatically apply the statutory allocation and that manual calculation or system changes would be required to ensure accurate distributions for new projects.

Procedural items: The council approved the workshop agenda and the April 20 meeting minutes by voice/hand raise and adjourned at the meeting’s close. No final budget adoptions occurred in the workshop session; presenters answered council questions and were asked to provide follow-up details such as staffing counts, billing documentation and projected savings analyses where noted.