07/05/17 — No county tax increase expected

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No county tax increase expected

By Steve Herring
Published in News on July 5, 2017 5:50 AM

There is no tax increase in the approximately $194 million budget Wayne County commissioners are expected to adopt when they meet in special session at 9 a.m. Thursday.

The budget maintains the current tax rate at 66.35 cents per $100 of property value. There are no fee increases.

Commissioners also are expected to adopt a capital improvement plan for fiscal years 2018-22.

The meeting will be held in the commissioners' meeting room on the fourth floor of the Wayne County Courthouse Annex.

The new budget will take the place of the roughly $10.1 million interim spending plan commissioners adopted June 20 to forestall a possible 2.46 cent tax increase.

The delay was to allow the state General Assembly time to adopt a budget that included a one-time $2 million funding supplement for Wayne County Public Schools.

Commissioner held off on the budget and tax rate because one a tax rate is set it cannot be changed until the following budget year.

The state budget passed, but was vetoed by Gov. Roy Cooper. The legislature overrode the veto.

Commissioners earlier in the summer indicated they would approve a tax increase if the $2 million was not funded. No tax increase will be needed now since the $2 million is part of the state budget.

Because the county's tax rate does not meet the threshold for funding under the low-wealth educational funding program, the county will lose $2 million a year in each of the next two budget years.

County Manager George Wood has said that the 2.46 cent increase would have been less expensive than the heftier increases that would be required to meet an ever-changing threshold.

Commissioners agreed and had been poised to increase taxes just enough to offset the lost $2 million.

But state House Majority Leader John Bell worked with House budgetwriters to include the one-time $2 million for the county.

A hoped-for long-term budget fix did not materialize.

However, Bell said that is something that will be worked on between now and the next legislative session.

A budget provision provides an exemption to tax rate threshold for counties where military bases are located as long as the county schools have an average daily membership of more than 23,000 students.

Commissioners had lobbied to have the number reduced to 17,000 or 17,500 in order for Wayne County to fall under the exemption. Wayne County Public Schools' current average daily membership is around 18,826.

Schools that meet that threshold will receive the same amount of supplemental funding for low-wealth counties that they received in fiscal year 2012-13.

In other business Thursday, the board will be asked to award a $275,400 contract to JL Britt Electric for the courthouse information technology room heating, ventilation and air conditioning and electrical improvements.