Bertie County board advances FY2025–26 budget ordinance, raises several departmental fees

Bertie County commissioners voted to move forward with a draft FY2025–26 budget ordinance and an updated schedule of fees after staff outlined several revenue additions and proposed fee increases.

County staff told the board the draft budget now includes revenue entries for “Avalon penalties and interest,” motor vehicle tax adjustments, a Medicaid cost settlement and proceeds from the sale of assets and ABC profits; staff also removed a transfer from the school capital reserve fund. "We have also on page 5, we've also now budgeted for the sale of assets," County Manager Juan Vaughn said during the presentation.

The accompanying schedule of fees proposes multiple increases in Planning & Inspections where, staff said, "most of the ones are going from $75 to $100," and the construction minimum would rise from $50 to $75. Staff also inserted several fire prevention permit fees that had not appeared previously on the schedule.

Parks and Recreation presented a separate fee structure that would shift many events to an hourly rate and raise certain deposits and service charges. "We're requesting that we increase the deposit for the picnic shelter as well as the ball field, from $25 to $50," Vaughn told the board, and the county would charge up to $25 per hour for field lighting and increase the fee to prepare ball fields from $30 to $50.

A motion to approve the budget ordinance and schedule of fees was made and seconded at the meeting; the transcript records the motion and subsequent discussion but does not include a full roll-call tally in the minutes provided. The county chair closed the item by thanking staff for their work on the ordinance and schedule.