BAKERSVILLE — The Mitchell County Board of Commissioners during a special three-day budget planning session this past week laid the foundation for the 2021-22 fiscal year county budget.
The proposed budget of $21,161,489 is balanced with a total fund balance appropriation of $1,497,128 with $1,386,297 for general fund expenditures and $110,831 for EDC reserve at the current tax rate of $0.58 per $100.
Much of the deliberation regarding the budget was dedicated to decisions to fund the requests from outside agencies, who made their pitches during the planning session.
Outside agency funding will remain largely unchanged from the previous year. The funding for Mitchell County Board of Education, Toe River Health Department, Mitchell County Library and Mitchell County Animal Rescue will be the same as the previous fiscal year.
Mayland Community College is slated to receive slightly less overall than the previous year but Mitchell’s funding is expected to be on target with the contributions to the college from Avery and Yancey counties.
The U.S. Forest Service funding will drop $600 from the previous fiscal year and the county will also pull $48,286 in funding for the Visitor’s Center which the commissioners acknowledged was a tough decision with Board Chair Matthew “Vern” Grindstaff adding that it boiled down to a “business decision” as the center hasn’t been open all year.
“It’s nothing personal,” said Commissioner Harley Masters about the Visitor’s Center decision. “I hate it. I’m sorry.”
Mitchell County Soil and Water is the lone agency to see an increase in funding for the 2021-22 fiscal year. The agency will see an increase of $1,802 due to a state match for insurance increases.
Commissioner Brandon Pittman said he expects to see outside agency funding stay at the current level for some time as the county focuses on funding its own capital needs.
“We can’t keep ignoring our own capital needs and putting those off,” Pittman said. “It’s time we look into the future.”
Commissioner Jeff Harding agreed and voiced his displeasure that the Mitchell County Sheriff’s Department still operates out of a trailer and sidewalks and carpet at the County Administration Building are in dire need of repair.
“It’s sad when we can’t afford to address those needs because of where we stand financially,” he said. “If we don’t start planning for the future, we’re only going to be in the same spot and it’s only going to get worse.”
Pittman said he is a proponent of letting the outside agencies know that funding increases are not likely over the next couple of years so that they can properly plan.
Finance Officer Mavis Parsley added that some other cuts were necessary to balance the budget at its current level— a line item for new carpet and flooring at the Mitchell County Department of Social Services building was tabled and Mitchell County Sheriff Donald Street agreed to go another year without a new fingerprint scanner at the courthouse that Parsley said carries a considerable ongoing maintenance cost.
Parsley added that she expects the budget to look better as the fiscal year goes on and county departments find ways to create savings.
“It looks worse right now but in a lot of these cases, I think our departments will work with us and not spend it if it’s not absolutely necessary,” Parsley said.
The county’s fund balance percentage sits at about 20 percent in the projected budget. County Manager Tim Greene acknowledged that while that “isn’t a bad fund balance” the goal is to increase it to 30 percent.
“This is like climbing out of a big hole you’ve dug,” Grindstaff said. “If we don’t address this a little bit at a time every year we’re going to continue to get into a hole.”
County officials pointed out that a property tax revaluation is coming next year, which will help the bottom line.
“I think the general public needs to realize we’ve put a lot of thought into this,” Harding said. “Even though we hate not to meet everybody’s needs, we’re trying to avoid a huge tax increase for the general public. That’s what it boils down to.”
Pittman agreed with Harding.
“You either reduce programs or increase taxes,” Pittman said. “This is first-grade math.”
Near the end of the planning session, Harding brought up the discussion of raising taxes, which he acknowledged would greatly affect people in the county, including himself, so it’s a suggestion he doesn’t take lightly.
Masters and Pittman voiced their support for putting a sales tax increase on the ballot of a future election while Commissioner Steve Pitman said he hopes to see the county “hold it steady” in terms of tax and Grindstaff said he is against a tax increase.
The board also approved a county-wide hiring freeze, effective immediately, after Grindstaff brought up the idea. The freeze will mean that all county hires will have to be approved by the commissioners until further notice.
Parsley will send letters to outside agencies as soon as possible detailing what their funding will be for the next fiscal year and approval of the county budget ordinance will be on the agenda of a regular meeting of the commissioners in June.
Before adjourning, the commissioners discussed providing Mitchell County Transportation Authority employees with a meal, paid for out of their own pockets rather than county funds. The commissioners are rotating through county agencies and thanking them for their contributions by providing them lunch.