Beaufort County
Republican Party
August 24, 2010
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Beaufort County Republican Party |
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County Completes 2008 – 2009 Budget
Jay McRoy, Chairman of the Beaufort County Commissioners
Beaufort County approved the new budget for the upcoming fiscal year July 1, 2008 – June 30, 2009 on June 4, 2008. The budget maintains a county tax rate of $ .60 per hundred dollars of value. This rate has remained the same for six budget years.
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When I became a county commissioner in 2000, the first budget had a rate of $.67 per $100 of value. The county had a very low fund balance (state limited Beaufort County to no new borrowings). A majority of the commissioners would not listen to me that costs had to be cut and the rate had to be cut. The following year after revaluation the rate was cut to $ .65 3/4. The following year, I had the trust of a majority of the commissioners, we were able to cut the budget, and lower the tax rate to $ .60 per hundred. Some commissioners have never voted for an approved budget which cut the tax rates for the citizens of Beaufort County. |
With the help of a good county manager, we have been able to keep costs low, and build a strong fund balance. Eight years ago, Beaufort County had approximately 335 employees. Through efficiencies we have lowered that count to approximately 296 employees currently. This alone is an approximate annual savings of $1,500,000.
Several years ago the citizens of Beaufort County voted for a $33 million dollar referendum for school construction projects. At the time of the vote the public was told this could raise property taxes by 8 or 9 cents per hundred dollars of value. We have been successful by cutting costs and adding additional tax base through business and residential development to maintain the current tax rate and also begin to make payments on the school bonds. The bonds are structured so that principle payments are fairly even over 20 years. This makes the total payments the highest in the first years and lesser in later years. We have known that in these first few years of payments we may use some of our fund balance in order to maintain the lower tax rate. We are keeping a close watch on this fund balance in order to maintain the good county credit rating we are currently enjoying and therefore saving on the interest rates we received when we sold the $33 million dollar bonds for the school construction. A one percent lower interest rate is approximate the same as a 1 cent increase per hundred in the property tax rate.
Monies allocated to the Beaufort County Schools exceed 25 percent of the total county budget. As the public is aware, several years ago the Beaufort County Board of Education sued the citizens of Beaufort County for more than $3 million in additional funding. A superior court jury awarded approximately $720,000 in additional funding. After the last elections of school board members, we have had a school board who has been willing to work with the commissioners. We established a five year funding plan which the school board accepted and agreed not to sue for additional monies during the term. At a later date, I will write another article which will detail the funding arrangement with the school system.
My goal is to maintain a low steady tax rate. The bonding companies evaluate the county’s fund balance and the consistence of the tax rate in setting credit ratings which are used by lending institutions in deciding interest rates to charge on future borrowings by Beaufort County. We are in the early planning stages of a new jail. This construction we are being told may cost as much as 25 to 30 million dollars. We need a few years of payments on the $33 million dollar school borrowings before borrowing for a new jail.
All counties in North Carolina are mandated to have a real estate property revaluation at least every eight years and to update all real estate to 100 percent of market value. We have hired an outside appraisal company to come to Beaufort County and began this revaluation. The firm hired is the same firm which did the revaluation eight years ago. These values will become effective with the tax rate the commissioners set for their budget for the fiscal year July 1, 2010 – June 30, 2011. The commissioners have no control over the market values. The commissioners do set the tax rate that will be charged on the new market values. A majority of the commissioners have expressed to the county manager we want to establish a neutral tax rate for that fiscal year. (The tax rate would be adjusted so that the new values of properties taxed in the previous year bring the same tax dollars in the new year with the new values. This could mean for example the tax rate could be $ .45 per hundred versus the current $ .60 per hundred dollars of value. This rate can not be determined until the new values have been determined for all real estate in Beaufort County.)
We will continue to watch our costs, but also allow Beaufort County to grow. Some costs will continue to increase, which we have no control. (Such as fuel and cost of living increases which the county has to absorb.) We are continuing to market Beaufort County for residential and business investments which enable us to absorb the additional costs by increasing the tax base on new investments and therefore not increasing the tax rate on Beaufort County citizens who are already paying their fair share of taxes.
If any citizens have questions which they would like to see answered in future articles, please email the questions to Al Klemm alklemm@theklemms.com or me jaymcroy@suddenlink.net. Al and I will attempt to answer the questions submitted.
