PITTSBORO — It’s the most wonderful time of the year: budget season.
Chatham County Commissioners got a first look at the proposed fiscal year 2023-2024 budget Monday night at the Chatham County Agriculture & Conference Center. The budget plan features a number of changes from the previous year including new fees, an increase in revenues and expenses and three dozen new staff positions.
One thing that isn’t changing in the new budget, however, is the proposed tax rate. The proposed budget holds the property tax steady at 66.5 cents per $100 valuation.
“Looking ahead to the coming year presents many challenges, yet also many opportunities, and we believe that Chatham County is well positioned for continued success,” Chatham County Manager Dan LaMontagne said.
Assistant County Manager Bryan Thompson presented the proposal to the board. He said he believed the budget prepared the county for incoming growth, and positioned them well to adjust to changing fiscal and environmental circumstances.
The proposed $177.4 million general fund represents a 2% increase in planned expenditures and revenues over the previous year.
Digging into the breakdown of those funds, the largest portion of the budget is allocated for Chatham County Schools, which has asked commissioners for a $4.9 million increase in funds over the previous year, totaling $46.6 million. This represents an 8% increase. If ap-
proved, this means for every tax dollar earned by the county, 38 cents would go toward the school district.
The second largest portion of that tax dollar would go toward public safety. The proposed budget allocates more than $19.3 million to the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office, which represents 21 cents of every tax dollar.
Overall, budget staff estimates the current proposal would yield $172 million in revenues and $178 million in expenditures for FY 2024.
Thompson said there were several factors that were top of mind when devising the budget proposal. Namely, national economic issues like inflation and unemployment, which are both on the rise. Thompson said national predictions of a recession by financial experts were cause for concern when creating the local budget.
On a local scale, the economic factors under consideration focused on development. In Chatham County, residential developments have plateaued over recent months. The slowdown represents a change from the previous rapid development. This means the county may be bringing in less money from individual property tax revenues. Industrial and commercial developments, however, are on the rise across the county. This includes large industrial projects like VinFast and Wolfspeed, and smaller local businesses looking to expand to the region.
All told, revenue from permits and fees is projected to increase 77.8% from the current budget. This is due to a significant projected increase in commercial permitting and inspection fees in FY 2024.
From social services to building inspections, the county also proposed 36 new positions to be hired in the coming fiscal year, with a total cost of $2.9
million. The department with the most new positions would be social services with 11 positions, which represents an 11% increase in the department.
Other prominent increases include five new positions in permitting and inspections, three new positions in tax administration and three new positions in the utilities department.
Commissioners took no formal action on the proposed budget Monday.
Throughout the month there will be several work sessions and public hear- ings on the county budget before final approval in June.
Two public hearings are scheduled at 2 p.m. on Monday, May 15, at the Chatham Agriculture & Conference Center and 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 16, at the Siler City Town Hall Courtroom.
The board will then hold three days of budget work sessions, which are open to the public, at 9 a.m. on May 23, 24 and 25. All three work sessions will be at the Chatham Agriculture & Conference Center.
The budget is scheduled for final approval during the June 20 commissioners’ meeting. State law requires the board to approve the budget no later than June 30. A full copy of the proposed budget is available online.
Reporter Ben Rappaport can be reached at brappaport@chathamnr.com or on Twitter @b_rappaport