Onley narrows proposed 2026–27 budget: no council pay raise, police staffing unchanged

At a special workshop April 22, 2026, the Onley Town Council reviewed a working draft of the proposed 2026–27 budget and made a series of line-item decisions and clarifications.

Town Manager Jamye L. Salazar highlighted the items requiring action. The council agreed there should be no pay increase for the mayor and council following remarks from resident Billye D. Custis, who said, "serving on Council is a public service and if you are doing so for the money, you are in it for the wrong reason." Council changed a payroll line name from "Salaries Treasurer" to "Salaries Clerk," decreased several health-insurance line items, increased audit and accounting fees to reflect a recent bid, and reduced holiday bonus line items per the newly adopted Holiday Bonus Policy.

On public safety funding, council left police staffing at five officers but increased the Police Education & Travel line to $25,000 to cover sending a recruit to the HRCJTA and additional training for existing officers; no police capital vehicle funds were added. Salazar reported the working budget was short $16,514; Councilman Brian Corbin suggested taking that amount from reserves, noting the town has done so in the past without actually drawing on those reserves.

Council discussed but did not remove existing donations or the Food Lion gift-card program despite a resident's request to discontinue the cards. After debate, council made no additional changes to the draft budget during the workshop. The working copy of the proposed 2026–27 budget will be attached to the meeting minutes and staff will implement the council-directed adjustments where applicable.