In voting upon the final budget for the 2018-19 fiscal year, the Vance County Board of Commissioners denied requests of approximately $540,000 more than available funding; equivalent to a 2.1 cent tax increase.
County Manager Jordan McMillen noted that nearly all of the departments or entities on the unfunded list still received some funding from the County, “We may not have been able to fund their requests for increased funding or expansion requests, but by providing any amount of funding the County is fully committed to these organizations and their causes in helping our citizens.”
McMillen said funding all requests from all departments and organizations always proves a challenge, “There is never a year where we can fund everything from every organization and this year was no different. Our board is committed to keeping taxes low and again this year kept the general fund tax rate level and also kept water rates the same. Although we were unable to provide all requests, the county continues our commitment to improving the quality of life for our citizens and we are excited with the way the upcoming budget accomplishes this.”
Notable Unfunded Requests include:
Vance County Schools – requested increase of $27,482 to current expense to account for loss of revenue due to net growth of Vance County students in area charter schools. Recommended budget includes level funding of current expense and teacher supplements and provides CIP funding at amount requested by the schools (FY18 = $7,202,440 current expense, $1,230,000 teacher supplements and $1,465,000 capital)
Vance-Granville Community College – Requested conversion of $17,500 to recurring capital and $386,610 in special one-time CIP capital for parking lot repairs and resurfacing, groundskeeper equipment replacement, and campus police vehicle replacement. Recommended budget includes converting $17,500 to recurring to be put towards groundskeeper equipment replacement with other CIP projects programmed in future years (FY 18 = $1,138,917 current expense, $23,720 in recurring capital, $17,500 in one-time capital, and $12,680 for Maria Parham Nursing Center)
EMS Department – Requested 3 full-time captain positions (1 for each shift) – $181,947; Requested 4% salary adjustment for a division chief – $2,408
Fire Department – Requested 3 full-time fire specialist III positions (1 for each shift) to provide 24/7 coverage at Kerr Lake substation – $146,208; Requested 12 pagers – $9,100; Requested 5 portables and 1 mobile radio at $24,000 and budget includes 2 portables and 1 mobile radio at $12,000; Requested $12,000 to replace fitness equipment and budget includes $6,000
Sheriff’s Office – Requested 25 stop sticks – $11,619; Requested 25 bulletproof vests at $17,988 and budget includes 15 at $10,793
Animal Services – Requested 1 full-time Kennel Attendant position (NEW) – $35,876; budget includes converting existing part-time Kennel Attendant to full-time – $25,137
Social Services – 2 vehicles – $50,000; budget includes 1 vehicle as per CIP
Planning and Development – 2 trucks – $50,000; budget includes 1 truck as per CIP
Maintenance and Security – 1 truck – $25,800; construction of steps from new parking lot to courthouse side entrance – $3,200
Veterans Services – increased salary and reclassification of administrative assistant to senior administrative assistant – $3,482
Economic Development – National Brewer’s Conference – $3,000
Elections – Removed second primary in July – $43,100
Perry Memorial Library – Requested county increase of $29,868.75 which included 15% health insurance increase – actual health insurance increase of 6.5% saves $18,000 from requested amount; Recommended budget includes increase of $10,000 to fully fund county portion of additional 8 hours of operation from FY18 and to cover health insurance increases (FY 18 = $582,200 which included $20,000 during FY18 to cover partial year cost of adding eight hours of operation)
Downtown Development Commission – increase of $18,500 to convert part-time position to full-time as required for Main Street status (FY 18 = $1,500); Budget includes level funding with an expectation that Main Street could potentially be obtained in FY2020.
Boys and Girls Club – increase of $3,000 (FY 18 = $27,000)
Henderson-Vance Crime Stoppers – increase of $500 (FY 18 = $500)
Franklin, Vance, Warren Opportunity – increase of $3,000 (FY 18 = $12,000); FY18 – Warren County funded $8,000 and Franklin County funded $13,750
Franklin, Granville, Vance Smart Start – increase of $1,500 (FY 18 = $3,500); Budget includes increase of $1,000 as match for a Division of Public Health grant.
Vance County Arts Council – increase of $1,100 (FY 18 = $900)
Roanoke River Basin Association – increase of $4,408 (FY 18 = $100)
Occoneechee Council – Boy Scouts of America – New request for $25,000 for SCOUTStrong Initiative (FY18 = $0)