Alexander County Commissioners continued their discussion of the 2025-2026 proposed budget at a work session on Monday, May 12. Alexander County Finance Director Jennifer Herman said the proposed budget will be officially presented during a public hearing at the May 19th meeting.
With the proposed budget at approximately $59 million, Herman said expenditures exceed revenues by $3,362,000. She said the board can appropriate fund balance to balance the budget, with no plans to spend that money. The county has historically utilized fund balance to balance the budget, but has only had to spend the appropriated fund balance once in recent years, in 2018. The property tax rate will remain at 65 cents per $100 valuation.
Items discussed at the work session include fire department requests, raises for sheriff/detention/911 and EMS personnel, solid waste fees, school system requests, parks and recreation needs, and a forestry service request.
“I really appreciate all the hard work our staff and this board have put into this budget. It’s not an easy process, and we have invested a lot of time to ensure we are using taxpayer dollars wisely,” said Chairman Marty Pennell. “We’ve worked hard to create a budget that meets the needs of the citizens of Alexander County.”
At the May 5th regular meeting, commissioners heard budget requests from six fire departments. Based on those requests and further discussion at the work session, the proposed budget includes adjusted fire tax rates in each district to maintain the level of funding in the current year’s budget, which will save the county approximately $328,000 in FY 2025-2026.
Alexander County Sheriff Chad Pennell encouraged the board to consider pay raises for employees in the sheriff’s office, detention, and 911. At the current pay level, Sheriff Pennell said retention and recruitment are difficult, having lost 66 of 120 employees over a 2.5-year period. He also discussed the fee for officers who work at special events, and a request for a school resource officer at Millersville Christian Academy (to be fully reimbursed by the private school).
Alexander County EMS Director Jeffery Sigmon echoed Sheriff Pennell’s remarks and said the county’s pay for EMS personnel must be increased, as the department is struggling with retention. He said four paramedics resigned just last month, mainly due to higher wages in nearby counties.
The proposed budget includes a 2.5-cent COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment) for all county employees. After hearing from Sheriff Pennell and EMS Director Sigmon, commissioners asked the finance director to include an additional 10 percent raise for these employees to help with employee retention and recruitment.
Herman said Alexander County Schools submitted an original budget request of $7,647,247, which is an increase of approximately $154,000 over the 2024-2025 budget. The school system later presented an additional request of $528,000 to help recoup low-wealth supplemental funding. Chairman Marty Pennell and Vice Chairman Larry Yoder, who comprise the board’s finance committee, will schedule a meeting with Superintendent Dr. Bill Griffin later this week to discuss these requests.
Josh Mitchell, Public Works & Facilities Director, also advocated for employee raises in his departments (buildings and grounds, maintenance, landfill, and garage). He said they have been trying to hire a mechanic for nine months. Herman said a $100,000 contingency fund is included in the proposed budget, which could be used for raises and other needs.
The convenience site fee is proposed to be $2 per 30-gallon bag, with landfill fees of $70 a ton for household/commercial/industrial trash and $60 a ton for construction/demolition debris. Mitchell said the last fee increase for convenience sites was in 2015, with the most recent increase in landfill fees in 2021.
Mitchell was also asked about parks and recreation facilities. He presented information about East Alexander Park at the board’s May 5th meeting. The proposed budget will include $100,000 for engineering and design services for a future upgrade at East Park.
David Huffman, NC Forest Service County Ranger, also presented a budget request of $175,000, which is a $70,000 increase compared to the current year’s budget. He said the increase would help pay for an assistant county ranger. The forest service is funded by the state (60 percent) and the county (40 percent).
The next regular meeting of the Alexander County Board of Commissioners is scheduled for Monday, May 19, at 6:00 p.m. at the CVCC Alexander Center for Education (room #103). Regular meetings are recorded and can be viewed on the county’s Government Channel on Spectrum channel 192 or the county’s YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/alexandercountync. Meeting agendas, minutes, videos, and more are available on the county’s website at https://alexandercountync.gov/commissioners.