ROCKINGHAM- The Richmond County Board of Commissioners held their regular monthly meeting Tuesday, June 5 at the Judicial Center in Rockingham.
The June agenda was a busy one with 20 items to cover. The most significant item of the evening was the final approval of the county’s 2018/2019 budget.
County Manager Bryan Land began by stating, “After reviewing the 2017 county audit, the North Carolina Treasurers office sent a letter to the board of commissioners expressing concern of the county’s available fund balance.” Land continued, “I immediately called a special meeting of the commissioners and department heads to discuss the state of our fund balance position and imposed a spending and travel freeze.”
According to Land, he directed all departments and outside agencies requesting funding to submit proposals 7% below their 2017/2018 funding levels. Land noted a significant unfunded addition of eight former municipal employees who have now become county employees through the consolidation of the emergency 911 services, putting further strain on the county’s funds.
“This budget has been a tremendous challenge for me and the entire staff, said Land. He noted that there was a $9 million gap to close from the initial budget draft. This was accomplished, Land noted, “through transfer from other funds in addition to severe cuts to departmental budgets.” Unfortunately, this was still not enough and in the end a tax rate hike of four cents was included with the new budget. Land blamed much of the recent budget struggles on reduced sales tax revenue that he believes is a result of the sluggish local, state, national and global economies that haven’t recovered from the 2008 downturn.
Salaries and employee benefits make up a large portion of the annual budget and Land pointed out that no salary increases were included in the 2018/2019 budget. Land noted that the new plan calls for two additional days off per employee that can alternately be cashed in for a value of $100 each for those who prefer cash to time off. Land did point out that the budget does include a small amount of funding for a merit increase program. “The merit and longevity plan adopted by the board of commissioners has helped us reward and retain those employees whose work means the most to our citizens.”
Following the budget review, Chairman Kenneth Robinette called for a vote and in a rare split decision the budget passed on a 4-2 vote with Commissioners Long and Moss casting votes against the budget. Both commissioners commented and each commended Land and his staff on the hard work put into the budget but expressed concerns that more could and should have been done to reduce spending.
In other business, the board approved the purchase of the Rohanen Middle School property from the Board of Education for the sum of $100.
A block grant request was approved for a loan of $1 million for a building to continue the ongoing economic growth of the county through building and promoting shell buildings ready for occupancy by industry. This particular request is for a 40,000 sq. ft. shell building with capability of expansion to 100,000 sq. ft.
Health and Human Services Director Tommy Jarrell presented a high level review of the State of the County Health (SOTCH) Report for 2017. The purpose of the SOTCH report is show the progress made in the past year on selected health priorities as well as to provide statistics on health of Richmond County citizens. Heart disease topped the chart for cause of death in Richmond County in 2016 and accounted for 25.5% of deaths as compared to the statewide average of 20.2%. Cancer came in second in the county at 18.6%. More information on this report will be published in a separate article.
For additional information on this meeting contact the Richmond County Administrative Office at 1401 Fayetteville Rd, Rockingham, NC. 910-997-8200.
