The Vance County Board of Commissioners received the 2024-25 budget recommendation Tuesday afternoon. The budget totals more than $57 million and achieves a revenue-neutral tax rate of $61.3 cents per $100 property value, down from the current rate of 89 cents.
It took about 15 minutes for Vance County Manager C. Renee Perry to present the budget – $57,848,373 – to commissioners, noting several highlights on the revenue and on the expenditure sides. An additional $2.3 million will be used from the General Fund balance.
Roughly half of the county’s revenues – more than $26 million – is projected to come from property taxes, and the recent revaluation figures bumped up by $2 billion the county’s total property value – from $2.9 billion to the current value of $4.9 billion.
Commissioner Tommy Hester commended Perry on the budget and said he didn’t remember the county having a lower tax rate. “You’ve put together an outstanding budget without hurting the taxpayer,” Hester said.
Commissioner Chair Dan Brummitt said he appreciated Perry presenting a revenue-neutral budget.
Another highlight is a reduction in the county’s fire tax rate, from 8.9 cents to 5.94 cents – also revenue-neutral, Perry said.
The proposed budget is less than a 1 percent increase over last year’s budget, Perry noted in her presentation.
But the budget as it currently stands provides no money for jail renovations, McGregor Hall, the Around Town Shuttle (KARTS) or a new EMS building.
County departments put in requests for funding totaling $60.2 million, but the budget funds $57.8 million of those requests, which includes items like new vehicles for the sheriff’s office, a transport vehicle for the jail and a 166,000 ambulance remount.
Other expenditures include roughly $400,000 for the creation of a code enforcement department.
County staff will get a 4 percent cost-of-living adjustment.
Commissioners will have a public hearing on the budget at the June meeting, which will be held Monday, June 3 beginning at 6 p.m. Commissioners will hold budget discussions on Monday, June 10 and Thursday, June 13. The meetings will begin at 6 p.m. State law requires local governments to adopt a new budget by July 1.
Tune in to TownTalk Wednesday at 11 a.m. to hear details of the county budget.
The 138-page budget document can be viewed at www.vancecounty.org/. Click on Departments and then Board of Commissioners to locate the file.