County wants public input on budget
By Steve Herring
Published in News on June 2, 2014 1:46 PM
A public hearing on Wayne County's $136 million budget proposal for fiscal year 2014-15 has been set for Tuesday.
The draft budget retains the current tax rate of 66.65 cents per $100 of appraised property value.
There are no fee increases.
The hearing before Wayne County commissioners will get under way at 9:15 a.m. in the commissioners' meeting room on the fourth floor of the county courthouse annex.
An agenda briefing will be held at 8 a.m., followed by the regular session at 9 a.m.
A budget workshop will be held later in the day.
Commissioners have tentatively scheduled a vote on the budget for June 17.
There are no salary increases for employees, but the proposal does provide a $500 bonus for most full-time county employees who work 40 hours a week. That adds $500,000 to the budget. If approved, the bonuses would be paid in September.
Under the proposal, the public schools would receive $2 million for capital outlay and $18.2 million for current expense -- the same as in the current budget.
The current expense for the schools also includes a $131,734 supplemental appropriation. Over the past several years, a fund balance of $526,936 has accrued in the current expense fund. That balance will be distributed as supplemental funding over the next four years.
Copies of the budget proposal are available at Interim County Manager George Wood's office on the fourth floor of the county courthouse annex, on the county website at waynegov.com, and at the public libraries in Goldsboro, Mount Olive, Fremont and Pikeville.
In other business Tuesday, commissioners will consider motions on:
* Purchasing property at 680 Community Drive as the site for a communications tower. The purchase price is $20,000.
* Approving a contract with Delaware-based Southern Health Partners to provide health care for inmates at the county jail. The cost of the contract for the first year will be $272,400 with a 2 percent increase the second year and an additional 2 percent for the third year. It is estimated the contract will save the county about $35,000 in health care and medication costs per year, while providing an additional 11 hours a day of nursing care for inmates.
* Approving the Ingram Fields subdivision plat. Owned and developed by J&N Developers, the subdivision consists of 12 lots on the west side of Charlie Braswell Road, about 2,900 feet north of Rosewood Road. The Planning Board is recommending approval.
* Approving budget amendments.
The board's consent agenda has four items:
* Declaring property at 1007 N. John St., which is jointly owned with the city of Goldsboro as surplus and authorizing it to be sold. The city has received an offer of $2,275 for the property.
* Writing off bad debt totaling $14,137.68.
* Setting a public hearing for June 17 at 9:15 a.m. in the commissioners' meeting on a proposed amendment to the county zoning ordinance to allow communications towers as a special use in the Light Industry Zone.
* Set a meeting of commissioners as the Board of Adjustments for June 17 following their regular meeting.
Public comments will be taken at 10 a.m. People will have four minutes to speak on their topic of choice.