News

Commissioners adopt $122M budget

County Manager Steve Wyatt confers with County Commissioner Michael Edney.

By Bill Moss, Published: June 1, 2015

The Henderson County Board of Commissioners on Monday adopted a $121 million budget on Monday night that keeps the county tax rate level while authorizing fire tax increases in all but one rural fire district.

Commissioners trimmed the School Board's request for an additional $2.3 million to an even $1 million, agreed to keep the fund balance at its current portion of the overall budget and raised the pay of School Board members by $1,000 for the chair, to $4,500, and $800 for all others, to $2,800. The new budget raises the fire tax rate in all but the Gerton fire district.

After chairman Tommy Thompson announced that the board would restore funding for nonprofits in the human services field, the planned appeals from those agencies evaporated. Although 11 people signed up to speak, most discarded their prepared remarks and thanked the board for reversing course on County Manager Steve Wuyatt's suggested 10 percent budget cuts.

After meeting in open session for three hours, commissioners went into a closed session. Thompson said the board would reconvene in open session to formally adopt the 2015-16 budget and tax rate.

Unlike four years ago, commissioners retreated from making a guarantee that they will not raise taxes at some point over the next four years.

Too many unknowns ahead, and too many costly capital projects, make a such pledge impractical, two commissioners said. Commissioners agreed to keep the current tax rate of 51.36 cents for the new budget starting July 1 and agreed to maintain a fund balance of at least 12 percent of the overall general fund. Commissioners fended off an effort by Grady Hawkins to zero out funding for the Flat Rock Playhouse.

"When you start looking at the tax rate... certainly we know we can only set a tax rate for one year," Commissioner Grady Hawkins said.  "We know that we got a lot of capital projects, not only in the county but in the school system." Adopting a tax rate this year does not stop commissioners from looking at the tax rate next year or the year after, Hawkins pointed out.

Commissioners Michael Edney, Hawkins and Bill Lapsley said with major capital projects in the pipeline or under consideration — a $32 million health sciences building, a new ambulance headquarters estimated to cost $10 million to $12 million, new schools — the Board of Commissioners may be unable to lock down the tax rate until 2019.

New voting machines ordered by state law, an extra election for the presidential primary and other unknowns could force new spending. "That amount of uncertainty makes it extremely difficult for a four-year tax rate," Hawkins said.

Lapsley agreed.

"I just don't see how we can proceed and give the public the confidence that the tax rate will not change," he said.

Commissioners trimmed the appropriation for the arts and land conservation and environmental nonprofits. Edney argued for funding those at their current level as well.

"A lot of those folks have already adopted budgets for the year," he said. "I think it's totally appropriate to look" at the agencies and their value. Messer endorsed that, too.

Hawkins called for a 10 percent reduction in funding for each nonprofit, except for the Playhouse. The commissioners had already appropriated $50,000 this spring for an emergency mold cleanup work at the Playhouse. He wanted to eliminate funding for the Playhouse, which asked for $50,000.

Hawkins questioned Edney, a member of the Playhouse Board of Trustees, on his support for Playhouse funding.

"You're on the board of trustees and you're comfortable with voting for the funding?" Hawkins asked.

"Absolutely," Edney responded. "It puts me in a lot better position to know .. about their finances," he said.

The board agreed to appropriate $9,800 for IAM, which requested $50,000 for its new headquarters building.

Thompson said the county would not need so much nonprofit spending if parents would do their job.

"The real problem that we're all trying to fix is the home and we wind up in the schools teaching morality, teaching manners, when we ought to be teaching science, reading and math," he said.

SCHOOL FUNDING

Wyatt in his recommended budget did not provide funding the schools requested. The School Board asked for $25.8 million — $2.3 million more than the current year's budget. Instead, the schools got $1 million. The request included funding for 4,700 computers and money to fund salary increases. Lapsley said the high-tech approach was increasingly common but unproven. "I would like to suggest that we do this over four years," he said. "All of a sudden all of them are out of date or obsolete, then we're in a jam."

Hawkins said he could support an increase of at least $1 million and let the School Board figure out how to spend it. Thompson, too, endorsed a $1 million increase, giving the school system the flexibility to spend it. Edney favored $1.15 million for the schools. The board voted 3-2 for the even $1 million increase. Thompson, Messer and Hawkins voted yes. Lapsley and Edney voted no. Lapsley wanted to give $1.375 million to the schools.

Around 80 percent of the $1 million in new money will go to cover the county's share of a teacher pay raise the Legislature is expected to adopt, School Board Chairman Ervin Bazzle said.

Because of state law on charter school funding, "A third of a million dollars of your tax money goes to public schools in some other county," Hawkins said.

FOR MORE ON THE BUDGET DELIBERATIONS RETURN TO THE HENDERSONVILLELIGHTNING.COM AND SEE THIS WEEK'S PRINT ISSUE.