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Scotland County commissioners set tax rate, put quarter-percent sales-tax referendum on November ballot and approve personnel and operational measures
Summary
At its June 1 meeting the Scotland County Board of Commissioners authorized a quarter-percent sales-tax referendum for the November 2026 ballot, published a proposed FY27 budget using a $0.699 property tax rate, kept the fire tax at 5¢, approved personnel and operational policies, and approved multiple conditional-use permits and appointments.
The Scotland County Board of Commissioners on June 1 voted to place an optional quarter-percent sales-tax referendum on the November 2026 ballot and published a proposed FY2027 budget based on a proposed property tax rate of $0.699 per $100 valuation.
County Manager Snead presented the resolution authorizing the referendum and said the board had earlier directed staff to move forward with putting the question to voters. Commissioner Shelley moved to adopt the resolution; the motion carried unanimously.
The board also voted 5–1 to publish the proposed FY27 budget using a $0.699 tax rate (Yeas: Vice Chair O'Neal, Commissioners Williams, Edge, Shelley, and Chair Frizzell; Nay: Commissioner Ivey). Finance/Tax Administrator Jorgensen told commissioners the FY25 audit remains pending and cautioned that fund-balance figures are preliminary.
In related budget actions, commissioners discussed the county fire tax and debated a reduction. A motion to lower the fire tax to 4.5¢ failed on a tie; the board then voted 4–1 to keep the fire tax at 5¢ to preserve capital funding for fire departments (Commissioner Ivey opposed).
The board approved several human-resources and operational policy updates, including overtime/compensatory-time, vehicle purchase and maintenance, holiday pay provisions, and a small change to salary-progression language; County Attorney Ed Johnston suggested replacing the phrase "subject to availability of funds" with "annual appropriation of funds," and staff agreed to incorporate that change before finalization.
Votes at a glance
- Agenda amendment: unanimously approved (added closed session; changed recess date). - Consent agenda: unanimously approved. - Quarter-percent sales-tax referendum resolution: unanimously approved to add the question to the November 2026 ballot. - Proposed FY27 tax rate to publish budget at $0.699 per $100: approved 5–1 (Ivey opposed). - Fire tax: 5¢ maintained by 4–1 vote (Ivey opposed). - County policies (overtime/comp time, vehicle, holidays, salary progression wording): unanimously approved pending agreed wording change. - Conditional Use 547-26 (family cemetery, Morgan): unanimously approved. - Conditional Use 548-26 (family care/group home, Smith): unanimously approved with conditions (state certification required; permit terminates if operator ceases the use). - Braveheart stipend increase (ambulance franchise): unanimously approved to raise the stipend to $1,000/month and continue the franchise arrangement. - Finance Officer J. Jorgensen raise (closed session): unanimously approved a 5% raise in addition to the 5% COLA.
What happens next
The county will place the sales-tax question on the November ballot following the resolution. County staff will publish the proposed FY27 budget and continue work with auditors to confirm fund-balance figures before final adoption. The county manager and attorney will finalize policy language and return final documents for implementation.
