Tag Archive for: #vancecountyboardofcommissioners

Board Of Elections Sets Jan. 22 As Date To Hear Residency Challenge In District 4 Commissioners’ Contest

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In a meeting Monday afternoon, the Vance County Board of Elections set a hearing date of Jan. 22 at 10 a.m. to consider a challenge lodged by a Vance County commissioner concerning the residency of a candidate who has filed to run for a seat on the board of commissioners.

District 4 Commissioner Dan Brummitt has called into question the residence of Kelley Wade Perdue, who filed to run for the District 4 seat.

“I had some constituents call me with some concerns about where she lived,” Brummitt told WIZS News Monday. Brummitt said after some investigating, “it appears that she does not live at the address that she has listed…there was enough evidence to demonstrate that she doesn’t live in that house. She’s got to provide evidence otherwise,” he added.

Perdue told WIZS that she has been a registered voter in District 4 for years.

“During that time, I voted for Commissioner Dan Brummitt without any questions being raised about my residency. Now that he is being challenged for his seat, my residency has suddenly been questioned. I look forward to working with the Board of Elections. I’m excited to champion a new voice for District 4,” Perdue stated.

Vance County Board of Elections Director Haley Rawles told WIZS that the board of elections will hear from both sides – Brummitt, the “challenger,” and Perdue, the “challenged candidate,” as part of the official proceedings on Jan. 22. The hearing is open to the public and will take place in the commissioners’ meeting room on the second floor of the county office building, 122 Young Ave.

(This information was originally posted January 13th)

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TownTalk: Vance County Board Retreat Recap – Part 2

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The Vance County Board of Commissioners’ annual retreat gives commissioners and county staff an opportunity to exchange information and opinions as they discuss a variety of topics that are sure to come up in 2026.

In the Jan. 9 retreat, there was a lot of discussion about revenues and spending, giving commissioners and staff a glimpse into what likely will be a part of future budget discussions.

In Commissioner Dan Brummitt’s view, it’s less a matter of money coming in than money going out and more about being more efficient when it comes to spending.

“I don’t believe we have a revenue problem,” Brummitt said during the retreat. “I believe we have an expense problem.”

County Manager Renee Perry assured the commissioners that the county doesn’t “just spend money” for the sake of spending. “We don’t have enough revenue to support anything at this point,” she countered.

“We know that we have an issue with revenues. we fully understand that,” she said. Vance County remains a Tier 1 county, along with almost half the rest of the counties in the state, which means it has higher unemployment, lower median salary and lower tax base than Tier 2 and 3 counties.

Personnel take the biggest bite out of the county’s budget, what with soaring insurance costs and even the slightest bumps in pay to try to improve recruitment and retention.

The county has 380 employees and 70 vacancies. Commissioners could opt to cut those vacant positions as cost-saving measures, but the bulk of those vacancies are in the sheriff’s office, detention center and Department of Social Services, three areas that typically experience chronic staffing shortages.

Perry told commissioners she had asked department heads once again not to request any new positions in the upcoming budget cycle, despite the fact that she knows they need the extra positions.

Speaking of personnel, Perry said she would recommend that commissioners consider again for the upcoming budget a 3 percent cost-of-living increase for county employees and put on the back burner – again – implementing the $1.2 million pay study salary increases.

A 3 percent COLA adjustment equals just more than $668,000, and Perry said that’s her recommendation simply because of all the other priorities the county has at the moment.

She would like to see the county consider a performance pay plan in the future, adding that it could start at a flat rate, moving later to a percentage plan.

So, if there’s not enough money coming in to sufficiently cover the county’s expenses, what’s a county government to do? There are a few choices to raise more revenue, including raising taxes.

One option that Perry encourages commissioners to consider is a local option sales tax increase. That requires a referendum for voters to approve.

Right now, the sales tax rate is 6.75 percent, and it could go up to a maximum of 7 percent, which would provide some extra money in the county coffers.

“I do think that this board should have a conversation at some point about getting the max on the sales tax – that would just be my recommendation,” Perry said. “I’m just surprised that we’ve never explored that here in this county…we get good revenues from sales tax.”

Perry predicted that a ¼-cent sales tax increase would translate to as much as $1.5 million in revenues.

Another option would be to raise the property tax rate, and staff has done some preliminary projections about what that could look like, but Perry said she’d hold off on those discussions until budget work sessions take place later in the spring.

If revenue projections are on the mark, the county is expected to add $400 to its tax base this year – $4.8 billion – up from $4.4 billion last year.

Another conversation for later, as the money comes in, Perry said. “That’s what we’re hoping for – that’s what we’re going to talk about in budget work sessions.”

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TownTalk: Vance County Board Retreat Recap – Part 1

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Editor’s Note: WIZS is taking a closer look at the Vance County Commissioners’ annual retreat and will bring you excerpts from the topics that were discussed in upcoming TownTalk segments.

At their annual retreat last week, the Vance County Board of Commissioners spent a good chunk of time talking about money – dollars coming in and dollars going out – and the impact that flow will have on county residents’ pocketbooks.

During the retreat, held Friday, Jan. 9, County Manager Renee Perry said the county capital improvement plan includes repairs to the existing jail, new EMS substation, a new EMS/fire substation and a new detention facility.

All that comes with a price tag – the new jail estimated at $50 million alone – that the county can’t manage without considering some sort of a tax increase.

“We don’t have the revenue to support a debt service on the jail,” Perry explained. Even with USDA funding, she expects the county would be paying at least $2 million a year on a 40-year note – and that’s with a relatively low interest rate of 3 percent. If that interest rate were just a tick higher at 4 percent or 4.5 percent, that amount would climb to more than $2.5 million annually.

Although Perry pointed out benefits of a tax increase – supporting Vance-Granville Community College and social services and creating more competitive pay packages to recruit and retain employees – she acknowledged the negative impact to taxpayers.

“Even a small increase can be burdensome,” she said.

Any tax increase the county decides on would “go directly to capital (improvements) and nothing else,” she emphasized.

At its January 5 meeting, the board approved spending up to $2.9 million on repairs to the current jail, with that money coming from the fund balance. Those repairs are predicted to be complete by November 2026.

A new EMS substation, with an estimated cost north of $2 million, is on the CIP, too. The land has been purchased, and construction costs are going to come from fund balance.

With a projected $10 million price tag, the EMS/fire substation will most likely have to be financed.

Questioned by Commissioner Dan Brummitt about the high cost of the EMS building construction, Perry said, “It won’t be less than a million. It’s not going to be cheap.”

Assistant County Manager Jeremy Jones said the 4,000 square-foot building will include sleeping quarters for eight, as well as bathrooms, a kitchen and a day room.

While basic construction with basic amenities, it will be quality construction. “I don’t want to just throw a building up,” he said.

About all the proposed projects Board Chair Carolyn Faines said, “If we’re going to build, we’ve got to build for the future.”

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Local Physicians Voice Concerns Over Detainees’ Lack Of Access To Opioid Treatment At Jail

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County commissioners have been grappling with what to do about the current jail for quite some time now, spending big chunks of money to make repairs to the facility to satisfy state inspectors as they proceed down the path of construction of a new detention center.

In the meantime, however, commissioners and county staff heard Monday from two local physicians who expressed concern about a different kind of cost: one that detainees face when they can’t continue to receive treatment for opioid use disorder because they’re in jail.

Granville Vance Public Health Medical Director Dr. Shauna Guthrie said she is a former physician who has provided care to detainees at the Vance County Jail. Guthrie and Dr. Laura Ucik with Rural Health Group in Henderson spoke to commissioners during the public comment portion of their monthly meeting.

“It’s really important to continue this treatment,” Guthrie said, adding that detainees with substance use disorder are considered a protected class of individuals by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“This could open us up to significant litigation should any harm occur,” Guthrie said, when detainees are forced to detox without benefit of the treatment medications.

Not having their medication puts them at a “significant increase” for overdose when they are released. Treatment reduces recidivism, she noted.

Ucik, board-certified in family and addiction medicine said the treatment had been halted since last summer, due to staffing financial and safety concerns.

“These life-saving medications are absolutely necessary” for detainees, she said. “It’s not only inhumane and truly a form of torture to force people into withdrawal in a jail setting when they’re often in isolation and don’t have adequate support.”

She agreed with Guthrie and said disruption of treatment places individuals “at serious risk of death when they’re released from jail.”

Much like a nicotine patch can help reduce a smoker’s cravings, Ucik said drugs like methadone and suboxone help control cravings.

“We can intervene and save lives,” Ucik said. “We can recognize together that this is a life-or-death situation here in Vance County (and) try to work together to come up with a solution.”

One possible solution involves use of a long-acting injectable version of the drugs that is administered once a month instead of more frequently.

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Vance Commissioners Reschedule Annual Retreat For Friday, Jan. 9

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– information courtesy of Vance County Clerk to the Board Dywanda Pettaway

The Vance County Board of Commissioners will meet at the Vance County Administration Building located at 122 Young St., Henderson, NC 27536 on Friday, January 9, 2026 at 8:30 a.m. for their annual planning retreat. Once published, a copy of the agenda can be found at https://www.vancecounty.org/…/board-of…/agenda/

Watch us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@VanceCountyNC/streams

Any questions should be referred to Dywanda Pettaway, Clerk to the Board, at 252-738-2003 or via email: dpettaway@vancecounty.org

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TownTalk: County Fiscal Operations Policy Stalls In 3-3 Board Vote

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The Vance County Board of Commissioners did not approve a proposed fiscal operations policy presented Tuesday during a special called meeting.

The vote was 3-3, with Commissioners Leo Kelly, Carolyn Faines and Charisse Fain voting in favor and Commissioners Yolanda Feimster, Valencia Perry and Dan Brummitt voting against. Commissioner Tommy Hester was not in attendance.

In presenting the document for their consideration, County Finance Director Stephanie Williams explained to commissioners the need to have a comprehensive policy in place.

The 30-page document includes “clear, uniform standards” across all county departments to ensure compliance governing the county’s finances.

“You want to hold people to a standard, but you have to give them standards to put in place,” Williams said.

County Manager C. Renee Perry stated that the county has never had such a policy.

“This is really big for us, for sure,” Perry told commissioners.

Williams said she found an 8-page policy when Perry brought her on board.

“No way you can run a county with eight pages of policy,” she said, adding that although the League of Municipalities doesn’t mandate counties to have fiscal operations policies, she stressed “the absolute importance we have a policy to move forward.”

The existing document addresses topics including debt, cash management and budget policy, but doesn’t include policy about bidding, purchasing and cash handling – internal controls that have been found lacking in recent LGC audit findings.

Perry asked commissioners to send her via email any questions or concerns regarding the proposed policy by Dec. 29.

The commissioners will gather for their annual retreat on Friday, Dec. 19. Their next regular meeting will take place on Jan. 6, 2026.

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The Local Skinny! Vance Co. Commissioners’ Special Called Meeting Tuesday, Dec. 16 At 4 P.M.

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The Vance County Board of Commissioners will hold a special called meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 16 at 4 p.m. to hold public hearings on several zoning requests and to receive and potentially approve a fiscal operations policy.

According to information from Clerk to the Board Dywanda Pettaway, Board Chair Carolyn Faines called the meeting, which will be held in the commissioners’ conference room of the county’s administration building, 122 Young St.

The two rezoning requests – (ZMA25-003 & ZMA25-004) – are pursuant to Section 11.2(D)(1) of the County Zoning  Ordinance and N.C. G.S. 160D. Article 6.

Public hearings regarding the two rezoning requests will be held beginning at 4 p.m., after which the commissioners will receive an updated fiscal operations policy. The board may choose to approve this policy, which contains information detailing county procedures and policies “designed to reflect best practice, not minimum practice,” according to information from Finance Director Stephanie Williams. “The intention is to create a consistent, disciplined framework that supports the long-term financial health of Vance County,” the statement continued.

 

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TownTalk: Sheriff Brame Set To Bring County Vehicle Policy Objections To Commissioners

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UPDATE: Dec 1 at 11 p.m.

The Vance County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to have Chair Carolyn Faines continue in the role for 2026. The board also elected newcomer Charisse Fain to the role of vice chair.

In making his motion to nominate Faines, Commissioner Tommy Hester told Faines she’d done an “outstanding job. I’d like to spend my last year with you as chair.”

Commissioner Leo Kelly seconded the motion.

Kelly nominated Fain to be vice chair. That motion was seconded by Hester and also was passed without objection.

After adopting the 2026 holiday, work session and meeting agendas, the commissioners heard from Vance County Sheriff Curtis Brame, who appeared before the board to express his concerns about the county vehicle acceptable use policy, which was approved in September.

Before Brame’s comments, Vance County Manager C. Renee Perry told the board that liability and risk are prime concerns for her.

She cited costs the county has incurred -$212,000 in jail repairs, $690,000 in emergency pay and an $80,000 increase in liability insurance due to concerns at the jail and with the Department of Social Services handling of child welfare cases.

The county implemented one cost-saving measure during spring budget deliberations – switching to leased vehicles, including vehicles destined for the sheriff’s office.

Those vehicles remain parked and unused, however, because the manager and the sheriff cannot agree on whether deputies should be allowed to transport their children to and from school.

Perry said she and Assistant County Manager Jeremy Jones had met with Brame, who expressed concerns about the new policy. “The only issue he had with the new policy was transport of family and children,” Perry said, adding that the sheriff said he would lose staff members if that one particular benefit was taken away.

“I guess I see the issue totally different than the sheriff. I don’t want any added liability for the county,” Perry said.

Brame said he was all for the county saving money, and agreed to the idea that sheriff’s office replacement vehicles be included in the lease agreement.

But his office hasn’t been able to replace the old vehicles with the new ones because of the impasse.

Brame said that six of his office’s current vehicles have more than 131,000 miles on them. “If we continue to operate those cars, they’re not going to be any good for resale,” Brame said, adding that they will be hazardous and dangerous.

“Holding on to new cars simply because the sheriff disagrees with the county manager,  I think that’s wrong. I really do,” Brame said.

After close to half an hour of discussion and back and forth comments, Commissioner Dan Brummitt made a motion to allow deputies to continue to transport their children to and from school in their work vehicles. The motion failed for lack of a second.

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UPDATE: Dec 1 at 12 p.m.

Sheriff Curtis Brame is set to appear before the Vance County Board of Commissioners Monday to advocate for his deputies about the county’s proposed guidelines for use of county vehicles.

The county decided to stop purchasing vehicles and go with leasing vehicles during its most recent budget process, a cost-cutting move that Brame told WIZS he had no problem with. The main sticking point, however, is over wording in the county’s acceptable use policy that would curtail activities like deputies dropping off or picking up their children from school on their way to or from work in a patrol car.

“I’m agreeing to adopt some of their wording,” Brame told WIZS News. But he said the sheriff doesn’t have to comply with county policies. The sheriff’s office has its own policy that does allow employees to use their work vehicles for non-work activities like dropping children off at school, as well as other personal activities like stopping at the grocery store or driving a patrol car to church when the officer is on call.

“My argument is, I think they are over-stepping their authority,” he continued, by placing certain limitations on the sheriff’s office and its employees.

County Manager C. Renee Perry confirmed that the leased vehicles are being held until a decision is reached at the board of commissioners meeting.

Perry said she has no authority over the sheriff’s car policy, but she added that the leased vehicles are not in the sheriff’s budget.
“All leased vehicles are budgeted under the FY 25/26 budget. They are in central services budget, not the sheriff’s office budget,” Perry stated.

When county staff posed the question about having children or other family members riding in county vehicles would affect the county’s auto insurance, a senior underwriter for the County Risk Group responded that it isn’t recommended, “unless absolutely necessary.”

In an email response to county staff back in August, Ariele D’Angelo stated, “There is some added/risk exposure since if an accident occurs and is the county’s fault, then the county would be on the hook for injuries/deaths to the passengers.”

Brame addressed each of more than 40 points contained in the county’s acceptable use policy for vehicles and noted which ones he agreed with and which ones he did not agree with.

One such portion under Authorized Use states “All passengers accompanying County employees in County vehicles must have a business interest in the travel. Due to insurance limitations and regulations, no other passengers are permitted unless authorized by the County Manager. Any exceptions would require the employee and passenger to complete and have place in their personnel file a waiver of responsibility form.”

Another point Brame takes exception with is in the Driver Requirements portion, which reads: “Passengers who are not employees or authorized Departments of Offices in Vance County are not allowed to be transported in County vehicles except on official County business.”

From Brame’s perspective, seeing a patrol car in the school drop-off or pick-up lanes is a positive thing. Ditto for having a deputy pull into a grocery store parking lot to pick up items on the way home from work or drive a patrol car to church when on call.

“There’s too much down time,” Brame said, if a deputy gets a call and has to drive home to pick up the patrol car before heading to the scene.

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TownTalk: Vance Commissioners Table Action On Updated Emergency Operations Plan, Vote To Terminate Fire Commission

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The Vance County Board of Commissioners were presented an updated version of the county’s approved Emergency Operations Plan but voted to table taking action to allow for more discussion.

Vance County Emergency Management Specialist Willie Kearney presented the draft document – the most recent update had been July 2019.

Kearney said the Vance County Rescue Squad has been removed from the EOP since it had been defunded by the county.

And since the 911 Communications and Emergency Management are no longer housed under Emergency Operations, Kearney stated that that Vivian Lassiter will oversee 911 and Kearney will oversee emergency management services in the plan.

Other proposed changes include an updated mutual aid agreement with the state of North Carolina. That agreement was signed on Sept. 23, 2025 by Assistant County Manager Jeremy Jones.

The local Department of Social Services responsibilities were amended in the EOP since DSS is no longer responsible for contacting medical/health care facilities to encourage development of emergency guidelines.

The existing EOP refers to a N.C. General Statute that was repealed and replaced with an updated G.S. concerning emergency declarations, and that also was updated in the draft document.

In other action taken by the board, County Manager C. Renee Perry said, at the direction of Chair Carolyn Faines, she is in the process of reviewing various county committees to determine whether they should be decommissioned.

First up was the Fire Commission, which Perry said she would suggest that the board decommission, since it was created for the specific purpose of resolving issues around the most recent fire study.

Since the commissioners have regularly scheduled work sessions, Perry said the work of individual committees could take place at work sessions instead. Commissioner Tommy Hester made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Leo Kelly, Jr. to decommission the Fire Commission. The lone dissenter was Commissioner Dan Brummitt.

Before the vote was taken, Brummitt said, “I still believe that committees are an essential part of the board. I don’t agree with getting rid of committees…I think we need to continue with our committees.”

Perry said commissioners earlier had decided to move the work of committees to regularly scheduled work sessions, allowing all board members to receive the same information at the same time.

“It’s always good for me not to be surprised with what questions are going to be asked at the meeting, so we can be prepared to answer those questions,” Perry said.

Speaking of work sessions, commissioners voted to cancel the upcoming Nov. 17 work session. Perry made the request, stating that the board would be together twice in December, once for the regular December meeting and the second for the annual retreat.

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TownTalk: Commissioners Approve Revised Emergency Pay Policy For Jail Staffing

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During a special called meeting Monday, the Vance County Commissioners approved a revised emergency pay policy that has been in effect since April to staff the county detention center.

Since the policy was put in place – which allows for employees of the Vance County Sheriff’s Office to fill in at the jail because of staffing shortages – the county has paid more than $483,000 to keep adequate staff at the jail. The funds have come from lapsed salaries.

County Manager C. Renee Perry recommended some changes to the policy to commissioners, which includes removing exempt staff from substituting at the jail, using individual employees’ overtime pay rate and allowing no more than 60 hours overtime per pay period.

The revised policy states that exempt employees and non-exempt staff at a pay grade of 72 or above be excluded from the emergency pay policy.

Sheriff Curtis Brame responded to commissioners’ concerns and said he opposed some of what the manager included in the revised policy. He requested that a cap not be placed on the number of hours an individual can work, and he balked at having on-duty patrol deputies be responsible for transporting detainees.

Brame said that he is down 12 staff at the sheriff’s office, and having patrol deputies transporting detainees would mean they’re not patrolling the county.

“We’re talking about safety, we’re definitely talking about safety,” Brame said. As of Monday, the county has 171 detainees, 63 of which are housed at the county jail. That means that the other 108 are in other detention facilities spread across the state of North Carolina from the coast to the Tennessee border.

In response to questions earlier Tuesday from WIZS, Perry said the sheriff “must reach out for approval in advance, just to ensure that the funds are available, not necessarily if the employees can work – just that funds are available,” she reiterated.

With regard to transport of detainees, Perry said that historically, deputies were able to transport. “My preference is to have his deputies do the actual transport without additional pay on their regular shift,” she said, but added that if that causes an undue hardship she would entertain conversations with the sheriff about that. “He just needs to let me know,” she said.

The policy that Perry proposes states that when the lapses salary well goes dry, the emergency pay policy will end.

Brame said county money needs to be made available to keep the staffing at the jail. He called the fund balance a rainy-day fund, used when emergencies arise. “It’s raining like hell in Vance County,” Brame said, “and I’m getting wet.”

After close to a half hour discussion, Commissioner Tommy Hester made a motion to approve the policy Perry recommended. The motion was seconded and was approved, with a lone “no “vote cast by Commissioner Valencia Perry.

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