Person County commissioners direct staff to prepare amended budget to pursue 1¢ tax cut and fund public-safety pay study

The Person County Board of Commissioners voted 4–1 to direct county staff to prepare an amended budget ordinance that would lower the property tax rate from 63¢ to 62¢ and set aside additional fund balance and estimated sales-tax revenue to address public-safety pay needs.

The chair opened the special budget work session and said he wanted the board to consider reducing the tax rate by one cent, a change he said would reduce revenues by roughly $795,000. ‘‘I would like to see us trying to lower the tax rate from 63 to 62,’’ the chair said.

County staff described competing priorities and revenue uncertainties that shaped the proposal. The county manager briefed the board on a public-safety pay study aimed at addressing recruitment shortfalls among paramedics and detention staff and recommended using an estimated $224,000 in additional sales-tax revenue as a contingency line for salary adjustments if the study requires them. "My recommendation is that we place that additional revenue into the budget and place it as an expenditure for a contingency line item for salary adjustments for the public safety pay study in the new fiscal year," the county manager said.

Finance staff cautioned that other revenue lines are volatile: Medicaid reimbursements budgeted at about $235,000 this year are expected to drop to roughly $60,000, and state-appraised values for utilities — which make up about 16% of the tax base — will not be final until Sept. 1. "We just broke 99% this week," Russell, the county tax/assessment staff member who provided the collection-rate update, said when asked about current tax collections. Finance staff also said they have realized higher interest income this year through active cash management; current interest-bearing accounts are yielding about 3.5%–3.75%.

Board members weighed trade-offs. Some commissioners urged caution because state appraisals for major facilities (utility and energy producers) remain uncertain; others said the board should act to help retain front-line employees. One commissioner outlined potential savings from approving fewer new positions or trimming merit and COLA amounts; another emphasized that several recommended positions came from state peer reviews and asked that the board not ignore those recommendations without explanation.

Staff provided preliminary cost ranges for possible pay adjustments. The county manager said the high end of the pay-study adjustments could be about $450,000, and staff offered department-level estimates for detention and EMS; paramedic-grade increases were described as a driver of the higher-end cost. Staff noted that some costs could be offset by reduced overtime, lapsed-salary savings from vacancies and later budget amendments recognizing actual revenue.

After discussion the chair asked for a motion directing staff to prepare a budget ordinance reflecting the meeting’s changes for adoption at the board’s next regular meeting on June 15 at 9:00 a.m. The board approved the motion 4–1. County staff said they would incorporate the contingency for the public-safety pay study and the increased fund-balance appropriation in the draft ordinance and return to the board for adoption.

The board adjourned after the vote.