Martin County commissioners hear departmental budget requests; draft budget due May 9

Williamston, N.C. — The Martin County Board of Commissioners met in special session on March 21, 2018 to hear departmental and elected-official budget presentations and to set a timeline for producing a draft county budget.

Finance Officer Cindy Ange opened the presentations by thanking the board “for the opportunity to present the budgets and for the continual support of the Board of Commissioners,” and said the finance request was largely unchanged from the prior year aside from higher professional services for a more frequent actuarial study and increased audit costs after the state selected the county for a second audit of the retirement system.

DSS/Transit Director Letecia Loadholt requested funding to upgrade equipment, chiefly computers, and to add an Income Maintenance Caseworker, noting she had cut other line items to offset some of the increase. Deputy DSS/Transit Director Frank Halsey told the board the Transit budget sought additional utility funding for electricity and water but was overall $14,599 lower than last fiscal year.

Charmaine Hardison, director of Adult & Aging Services, said AASD had been certified in 2018 as a North Carolina Senior Center of Excellence and asked for increased funding for housing and minor home-repair assistance for older residents, and for the Home Health Coordinator position to be upgraded from part-time to full-time.

Tax Assessor Elisha Hardison outlined increases for business personal property auditing, Wi‑Fi hotspot telephone costs and a new GIS mapping contract; the office trimmed contracted services and temporary salaries. Tax Collector Christie Belvins said her office would need supplies and equipment tied to planned remodeling (three additional printers, toners and desks) and that remodeling cost estimates were included in the Building and Grounds budget, though the transcript did not specify a dollar amount for that work.

Finance Director Ange reported Elections Director Kristy Modlin had budgeted for an additional elections board member — raising the board to four members in response to legislative changes — and that the November 2018 election was included in the request but funding for a potential second primary was not specified.

Operations Director Justin Harrison presented facility requests across Martin County properties, including renovation work at the Government Building (including security glass and Tax Collector office remodeling), continued County Office Building improvements, lighting upgrades at the old Agriculture Extension building, plumbing and cosmetic work at the Health Department, parking and drainage at the Farmer’s Market, and renovation of the Barnes house at Moratoc Park. Harrison said contract cleaning was a new line item added across Building and Grounds accounts.

Public Works plans included funding requests for a landfill monitoring well, tractor, mower and one-third of the cost of a backhoe, with the backhoe cost shared with the Water Districts. Harrison also said concrete from demolition of portions of the Magnuson hotel would be repurposed at the landfill.

Sheriff Tim Manning requested funding to reduce accumulated holiday and compensatory time liabilities, and asked for increases for overtime, upgrades to body cameras, rifle training and ammunition, six vehicles and mandated animal enforcement shelter upgrades.

Interim Telecommunications Manager Keith Holliday said Communications and 911 budgets were largely unchanged while staff awaited construction of a new 911 center. County Manager David Bone noted Emergency Management requested a laptop and EOC equipment while Safety Administrator Jody Griffin was responding to an oil spill at a local manufacturing plant.

Other presenters included Cooperative Extension Director Laura Oliver, who requested full funding for the part-time Farmer’s Market manager position, and Water District Manager Ed Warren, who requested funds to replace aging meters (4,500 new meters) and a new computer plus an additional position while reporting lower utility and fuel costs. Several departmental requests included modest increases for equipment, software or training: Register of Deeds Kimberly Griffin requested a $2,200 increase for computerized indexing and automation, and Soil & Water and Veterans offices requested only small increases for travel, repairs, equipment and training.

County Manager Bone reminded commissioners of upcoming calendar items: a joint meeting with Bertie County and the Bertie‑Martin Regional Jail Commission on March 26 to discuss detention officer recruitment and retention, Outside Agencies presentations on March 28, and that a draft county budget was estimated to be available by the board’s May 9, 2018 meeting. He also said the March 22 department presentation meeting would not be held.

There were two formal procedural motions recorded: Commissioner Dempsey Bond Jr. moved to approve the meeting agenda (seconded by Commissioner Joe R. Ayers) and the motion passed unanimously; later the same pair moved and seconded adjournment, which the board approved at 8:20 p.m.

No budget adoption or formal votes on specific budget line items took place at the session; the meeting served to collect departmental requests and schedule next steps toward a draft budget.