Tag Archive for: #vancecountyboardofcommissioners

Vance County Schools’ Certified, Classified Staff Could Benefit In FY 2025-26 County Budget

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When the Vance County Board of Commissioners convenes next week to adopt the FY 2025-26 budget, teachers and classified staff in Vance County Schools will be among those listening closely to learn whether they will be getting a bigger supplement or – in the case of classified staff, a bump in pay.

The commissioners discussed increasing the amount the school district gets from the county for this purpose at a budget work session on Monday, June 16.

It will add about $1.2 million to the total county budget, which stands now at more than $66 million.

VCS Superintendent Dr. Cindy Bennett said local funding provides vital support for areas not covered by federal or state sources. Teacher supplements is one such area.

Bennett told WIZS News that certified teaching staff currently get a supplement of $2,500 – that amount hasn’t gone up since at least 1999 – that’s 25 years.

In its funding request to commissioners, the Vance County Board of Education had asked that the supplement be doubled, and that classified staff get a 10 percent salary supplement.

Commissioners discussed providing $1,000 for certified staff and a 2 percent increase for classified staff.

“This supplement is funded through local appropriations and is included in the annual budget approved by the Vance County Board of Commissioners,” Bennett said. “Though the amount of teachers has decreased with fewer students in the district, expenses have increased in many areas, most notably insurance rates, state-mandated pay raises for locally funded positions, and increased payments to charter schools,” she stated.

Bennett acknowledged the collaboration between the school district and county leaders with regard to educator compensation, calling it “an encouraging step in the right direction.”

She said she and school leaders “remain hopeful that additional support will be appropriated, inclusive of our classified staff.”

Local supplements help attract and retain teacher talent, Bennett said. School districts in larger counties can offer larger supplements, making it difficult for smaller districts to keep teachers.

Bennett said that once the county has approved its budget, 30 percent of the money appropriated to Vance County Schools is distributed to charter schools. “Currently, there are 21 charter schools who receive funding from these appropriations for 2,113 students,” Bennett said.

Data from 2023-24 shows Vance County ranks 101st among the state’s 115 Local Education Agencies In North Carolina for local per-pupil expenditure, with $1,748.12 per pupil.

Granville County ranks 33rd at $2,918.94 per pupil, Warren County ranks 21st at $3,405.61 per pupil and Franklin County is 52nd at $2,531.59 per pupil.

This information comes from the N.C. Public Schools Statistical Profile, found in the following link: http://apps.schools.nc.gov/ords/f?p=145:34:::NO:::

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Vance County $1.5M Vehicle Lease Agreement Will Save Thousands Of Dollars

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Beginning July 1, Vance County will begin leasing vehicles, a move that County Manager C. Renee Perry said will be “a good cost savings” for the county.

The county commissioners approved moving forward with the plan at a March work session, Perry told WIZS News.

“We’ll no longer purchase vehicles,” she said. “At some point, all of our vehicles will be leased.”

Because the county is on the Local Government Commission’s Unit Assistance List , the five year, $1.5 million dollar plan had to be approved by the LGC, which it did at its meeting earlier this week.

The plan could mean substantial savings for the county as it moves toward replacement of its entire fleet of vehicles.

“Normally, we budget around $480,000 just for new sheriff vehicles,” Perry said.  The cost for the lease agreement works out to be about $300,000 each year of the five-year plan.

“That’s a good thing for Vance County, for sure,” she said.

TownTalk: Vance Elections Board Merges 5 Precincts To Create Newly Named Central Henderson, South Henderson Precincts

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With the proposal to consolidate five voting precincts into two approved by the N.C. State Board of Elections, County Elections Director Haley Rawles presented the plan to county commissioners at their meeting on Monday.

North Henderson 1 and East Henderson 1 precincts are going to become Central Henderson voting precinct, and voters will go to the campus of the former Eaton Johnson Middle School to cast their ballots.

The Hilltop, South Henderson 1 and South Henderson 2 precincts will merge to become South Henderson precinct. Perry Memorial Library will be the voting place for that precinct.

Rawles told commissioners that no candidate seats will be affected; the consolidation will not change the ward or district.

Rawles said information about the changes in precinct locations will be mailed to residents in August and the information also will be published on the board of elections webpage and shared with local news outlets.

The Vance County Board of Elections voted in February 2024 to set the process in motion, and it got notice of approval from then-state director Karen Brinson Bell.

The county elections board had been talking about consolidating precincts for some time, she said. “This has been something that they’ve wanted for years,” Rawles said. This plan reduces from 12 to 9 the number of voting precincts in the county.

More voters are choosing to cast ballots during the early voting period, which has reduced the number of voters who come to the polls on election day. She provided numbers from recent elections to commissioners – one precinct had zero voters come in on election day.

She said the consolidation could reduce by 21 the number of poll workers needed on election day.

In addition to reducing the number of workers, Rawles said the move will reduce confusion for voters about their polling place and will increase the safety and accessibility for voters – and staff. It also will simplify delivery and pickup of elections equipment by county employees.

“The Board of Elections is trying to save the county some money,” said Elections Board Chair James Baines.

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Commissioners Discuss Support Of New City Communications Tower During Work Session

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During a work session Monday, Vance County commissioners heard from city officials about progress being made on construction of a communications tower at the North Henderson ball fields that will be funded, in part, by $2.175 million in federal funds secured by U.S. Congressman Don Davis.

City Manager Hassan T. Kingsberry and Assistant City Manager Paylor Spruill spoke to commissioners to ask whether the county is still willing to help with funding, if the need arises.

The city and county have an agreement to split 50/50 funding emergency communications that cover both the county and the city.

Spruill said it’s possible that the project can be completed without contributions from either the city or the county, but the final, all-in cost is unknown at this time.

What is known is that the city of Henderson is the weakest area in all of Vance County on the VIPER system because it is located on the fringe of four towers used by the county, said Brian Short, the county’s former Emergency Management coordinator.

The North Henderson ball field location is “the sweet spot” for the entire county, and putting the tower there – with equipment to support VHF paging and more – would fix two problems at once, Short said.

The North Henderson location has been through a vetting process and will have the ability to provide in-building coverage for the city  in most of the downtown buildings, as well as a large area within the county.

But the federal funds will pay for the tower only; Short predicted it could cost an additional $1 million to outfit the facility with the equipment and everything else that goes along with the tower.

Once built, the state has said it would take ownership and would assume maintenance, including maintaining the VIPER system.

City leaders are in discussion now with Duke Power to “co-locate” on the tower. Spruill said the utility company is in the due diligence process right now but added that “they’d likely contribute any remaining funds toward construction.”

WIZS News has reached out to Duke spokesman Beth Townsend and we’ll update the story when more details are available.

County Board Special Called Meeting To Discuss Lingering Jail Issues

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Update 4-14-25 at 11;30 p.m.

In a special called meeting held Monday afternoon, the Vance County Board of Commissioners took steps to move forward with repairs to the existing jail and construction of a new detention center, but are still wrestling with issues of having too many detainees and too few staff – both of which fall far below state expectations to rectify the problems.

Commissioners approved a proposal from County Manager C. Renee Perry to pay current staff $50 an hour on top of their regular hourly rate in an effort to get them to work additional hours at the jail and help close scheduling gaps – at least for the next two pay periods.

Three additional people per 12-hour shift would be needed to comply with the state’s mandate for staffing, which would result in about $69,000 in extra pay and benefits per month. There’s money already in the budget, so no budget amendment would be needed at this time.

Perry also recommended that the minimum salary for detention officers be bumped up one pay grade, effective immediately, from about $40,000 to about $42,000.

This move helps to make Vance County more competitive with surrounding counties, but Perry said it will affect more staff pay because when you shift one grade you have to shift the entire detention series.

The problems at the detention center aren’t new, and they aren’t a surprise to county leaders.  But finding solutions has proven to be complicated, and long-term solutions are elusive.

As of Monday, the county has failed to meet not one, but two, deadlines to comply with state mandates – to significantly reduce the number of detainees in the detention center and to address staffing shortages.

Perry said the county received a second letter from the state on Friday, Apr. 11 stating that the sheriff’s office must submit by 5 p.m. on Monday a list of 20 additional staff members who would be filling in those staffing gaps.

Maj. William Mitchell, interim administrator jail, frankly informed commissioners that creating and submitting that list isn’t quite as simple as writing 20 names on a piece of paper.

“It is physically impossible to have that done by 5 o’clock,” Mitchell said.

And although the sheriff’s office has made headway in whittling down the number of detainees – 77 have been moved to six counties across the state with another 10 scheduled to be moved soon – it still is far from the maximum of 20.

There were 81 detainees in the jail as of Friday, Apr. 11 – down from 178, Mitchell noted. As of Monday, the number had crept up to 87.

Mitchell introduced Maj. Kevin Staton as the new detention center administrator, effective next Monday and mentioned several other additions to staff rosters. Again, it’s a step toward filling the 30 or so vacancies, but there’s still a long way to go.

“Staffing is still a huge issue,” Mitchell told commissioners. “If we can’t get COs (correction officers) to come in on their days off, I don’t know what the next step is going to be.”

With three staff recently dismissed and an additional resignation late last week, the jail is short between 24 and 26 staffers. Sheriff Curtis Brame said his office needs between 8 and 10 additional officers to be fully staffed.

The Apr. 1 letter spelled out five areas of corrective action, including the depopulation of the jail, staffing deficiencies, supervision schedules, contraband and repairs.

Mitchell reported to commissioners that C Dorm is now empty and county staff have already taken a look to see what repairs can be made as a stopgap measure until the more comprehensive repairs using the “design/build” model can be implemented.

Although Perry assured commissioners that the county would continue to tackle repairs on the lengthy “to-do” list, she does not want to make repairs that ultimately would need to be done again.

“I just don’t want to spend a lot of money on things that may not be done correctly,” or not in accordance with recommendations from the design/build team, she said.

 

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Original Update 4-11-25 at 5:30 p.m.

With the state’s deadline now passed to drastically depopulate the Vance County Detention Center, Sheriff Curtis Brame said he and his office continue to look for places for the detainees to be relocated, but it hasn’t been an easy task.

Insufficient staffing and serious deficiencies in the physical facility prompted the state to issue the corrective action that included moving out more than 100 detainees to other facilities.

As of Friday morning – one day past the Apr. 10 deadline to reduce the jail population from more than 140 to 20 – Brame told WIZS News that there were fewer than 90 individuals still housed at the detention center.

Brame said he is working with other sheriffs to relocate more detainees, but other jails also face at-capacity or over-capacity censuses.

It’s not as simple as moving detainees from one place to another, he said. Detainees haven’t been convicted of crimes; they are in custody awaiting trial and cannot be housed in exactly the same space with individuals who have been convicted of crimes.

The Vance County Board of Commissioners will have a special called meeting on Monday, Apr. 14 at 4 p.m. to discuss matters concerning the jail. Included on the notice from Board Chair Carolyn Faines are three items:

  • new detention center construction and renovation recommendations
  • detention center deficiencies
  • emergency pay policy

The meeting will be held in the commissioners’ conference room of the Vance County Administration Building, 122 Young St.

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TownTalk: Vance County Commissioners Vote To Accept Audit Report

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The Vance County Board of Commissioners received and accepted the most recent audit report as part of its Feb. 3 meeting.

It’s a routine matter for the board, but County Attorney Jonathan Care asked a few questions of Alan Thompson, who presented the report to the board and reviewed highlights.

Care wasn’t so much concerned numbers or findings – he simply wanted to know the auditor’s opinion about the level of cooperation his firm had received from current staff.

In the previous audit presentation in June 2024, commissioners heard a number of concerns ranging from a lack of training and cross-training of staff to lack of oversight by the previous finance director.

“Do you have the same concerns that you had about some of our staff this year that you had in previous years?” Care asked Thompson.

“No,” Thompson replied.

Care continued, saying “You made it sound like you had a lot more concerns than any of us sitting around this dais understood or gathered from your previous presentations. So, rather than relying on your reports and presentations, I’m asking you specifically: Do you still have those concerns about any of our staff and the findings that you found during this audit process?

Again, Thompson’s answer was “No.”

He added to his answer and explained that he had contacted Finance Director Stephanie Wiliams and County Manager C. Renee Perry on a regular basis during the most recent audit and got “positive responses.”

Perry began her job as county manager in November 2023; Williams came on board in April 2024.

Board Chair Carolyn Faines commended Perry and her administrative staff for their work on the most recent audit. “They have done a wonderful job and they have worked very hard to put this audit together. I commend you all and thank you all for a job well done.”

Perry accepted Faines’s remarks, adding her own thanks to Williams and the finance staff because “she inherited a mess and I think we all know that.

“For us to have turned it around in the short period that we have, I’m very proud of my staff.”

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Commissioners Approves Food Truck Policy On County-Owned Property

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County commissioners approved a policy Monday to regulate food trucks – where they can be, and for how long – on county-owned property.

The Properties Committee – commissioners Dan Brummitt, Leo Kelly and Valencia Perry – met on Jan. 27 to review the policy that was recommended for approval by the full board at the Feb. 3 monthly meeting.

Food trucks – or Mobile Food Service businesses as the policy states – increase foot traffic to public spaces and foster “a vibrant and inclusive community environment.”

The policy defines Mobile Food Service as “a readily movable cart, trailer, motorized wheeled vehicle” that is used and equipped to serve food.

Food trucks offer customers additional dining options and can also support “the incubation and growth of entrepreneurial/start-up businesses,” the policy states.

Food truck operators still have to comply with all the state regulations, including having a valid health permit that has to be prominently displayed.

They also have to follow any city zoning ordinances, provide their own trash receptacles and be at least 100 feet away from the customer entrance of an existing restaurant during its hours of operation, unless the restaurant owner says it’s ok to be closer.

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TownTalk: Four (Now Five) Put Names Up For Consideration To Fill District 3 Board Seat

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Update 1-28-25:

Vance County Manager Renee Perry said, “One more was received before the deadline. Charisse Fain.”

Perry confirmed that during the next regular commissioners meeting, this Monday, February 3, 2025 at 6 p.m., that next steps in this appointment process will be discussed.

Please review earlier updates below for further information.

Update 1-24-25:

The Vance County Board of Commissioners has the names of four people who are interested in filling the vacant District 3 seat on the board. Today was the deadline to submit names and the names that WIZS reported Thursday are the names that will be considered, according to information from County Manager C. Renee Perry.

Listed in alphabetical order, the four individuals are:

Joseph Doyle Carpunky
Jeanette B. Floyd
Charles Turrentine, Jr.
William Gordon Wilder

Former Commissioner Sean Alston vacated his seat on the board effective Jan. 1, when he took a job as a magistrate in Warren County. The commissioners have until Mar. 1 – 60 days from the time the seat was vacated – to appoint a replacement.

At a meeting in early January, County Attorney Jonathan Care advised commissioners that a meeting may need to be held in early February to discuss the appointment and those interested in filling Alston’s unexpired term.

The next regular meeting of the commissioners is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 3.

The district 3 seat is up for election in 2026, according to Vance County Elections Director Haley Rawles.

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Original Update 1-23-25:

With the deadline looming, Vance County Manager C. Renee Perry confirmed Thursday that four individuals have submitted their names to be considered to fill the vacant District 3 seat on the Vance County Board of Commissioners. Other interested individuals have until tomorrow – Friday, Jan. 24 – to submit information to the county.

Listed in alphabetical order, the four individuals are:

  • Joseph Doyle Carpunky
  • Jeanette B. Floyd
  • Charles Turrentine, Jr.
  • William Gordon Wilder

Former Commissioner Sean Alston vacated his seat on the board effective Jan. 1, when he took a job as a magistrate in Warren County. The commissioners have until Mar. 1 – 60 days from the time the seat was vacated – to appoint a replacement.

At a meeting in early January, County Attorney Jonathan Care advised commissioners that a meeting may need to be held in early February to discuss the appointment and those interested in filling Alston’s unexpired term.

The next regular meeting of the commissioners is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 3.

The district 3 seat is up for election in 2026, according to Vance County Elections Director Haley Rawles.

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Deadline Jan. 24 To Apply For District 3 Seat On Vance County Board Of Commissioners

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The process to appoint a replacement for the District 3 seat on the Vance County Board of Commissioners continues, with the application now posted on the county’s webpage for interested individuals to complete and return.

Interested individuals have until Friday, Jan. 24  to submit their completed applications.

The application can be found here.

Submit completed applications to Kelly Grissom, clerk to the board, to the address listed on the application. Eligibility will be verified with the Vance County Board of Elections.

To be considered, applicants must be of legal voting age, reside in District 3 and be a member of the Democratic party.

The board has until Mar. 1 to appoint a replacement for former commissioner Sean Alston, who resigned effective Jan. 1 to accept a position as a magistrate in Warren County.

Visit www.vancecounty.org to learn more.

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County Commissioners Moving Forward To Find Replacement For Vacant District 3 Seat

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The process to appoint a replacement for the District 3 seat on the Vance County Board of Commissioners continues, with the application now posted on the county’s webpage for interested individuals to complete and return.

The application can be found here. Submit completed applications to Kelly Grissom, clerk to the board, to the address listed on the application. The commissioners have 60 days from Jan. 1 to choose a replacement.

Completed applications may be submitted to Kelly Grissom, Clerk to the Board on or before Jan. 24, 2025 to the address provided on the application.  Eligibility will be verified with the Vance County Board of Elections.

Interested individuals should keep in mind several criteria – applicants must be of legal voting age, reside in District 3 and be a member of the Democratic party.

The board needs to appoint a person to fill out the remainder of the District 3 term following the resignation of Sean Alston, who took a job as a magistrate in Warren County on Jan. 1.

Visit www.vancecounty.org to learn more.