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Garner council narrows options for FY27 budget as tax-rate, staffing and fee decisions loom
Summary
At a June 8 special meeting, Garner Town Council discussed direction for the FY27 budget—property tax-rate options, nine proposed new FTEs and the FY27 fee schedule—without adopting the ordinance. Staff was asked to prepare materials for potential adoption after further council guidance.
Garner — Town leaders spent a special June 8 session pressing staff for clear direction on three elements of the FY27 budget: the property tax rate, the total number of full‑time equivalent positions and the fee schedule.
Mayor Gupton opened the meeting by stressing public safety as the town’s top priority and laying out staff’s request that council provide guidance on those three items so staff can prepare the budget ordinance for adoption before the fiscal year begins on July 1.
Town Manager Miller told the council staff was seeking “guidance on three particular areas” — the tax rate, FTE count and fee schedule — and that the recommended budget totals $97.9 million. Finance staff and the town’s advisers had sketched a manager-recommended approach that would rely on a 2.5‑cent increase as one option, with those cents allocated in part to operations, to new positions and to building debt‑service capacity for future capital projects.
Council members delivered mixed reactions. Several expressed support for adding staff and for investments tied to growth; others said they were unwilling to back the full 2.5‑cent increase. One council member said they could tolerate “one and a half cents” as a maximum on their preliminary review; another favored a 2 percent change as a working target. Multiple members urged staff to prepare scenarios at different tax levels and to show which programs or positions would be cut or delayed under each scenario.
Staff flagged timeline constraints from the county and state: the town must adopt a balanced budget by June 30, and ordinance materials must be prepared and published in advance. Miller said staff could aim to have a proposed ordinance ready for a June 23 special meeting if the council can provide direction on the three decision points at or before its June 16 meeting.
The council did not vote on the ordinance at the special meeting. Instead members agreed to continue discussions in the coming week, to meet in smaller groups with staff for technical briefings and to return with a clearer majority position so the town manager can prepare the ordinance for consideration.
The council recessed for further work and later adjourned the special meeting without adopting the FY27 budget; final adoption remains scheduled before the June 30 statutory deadline.
