It keeps the mill rate at 65 cents per hundred dollars of assessed valuation
Robbinsville – Graham County commissioners inched their way closer to a working budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year, one that would not raise taxes but which could result in a number of compromises that could affect services.
The proposed budget was submitted to the clerk of the Board of County Commissioners on June 10, and is available for public inspection in the Office of the Clerk to the Board located at 196 Knight St., Robbinsville.
A public hearing has been scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 21, at the Graham County Community Building located at 196 Knight St. for the presentation of the proposed budget.
The $21.3 million budget is an increase of $25,767 over the previous year. It keeps the mill rate at 65 cents per hundred dollars of assessed valuation, but may require the county to dip into reserves.
County Finance Officer Becky Garland recommended that the county board set a policy that the unrestricted fund balance be reduced to no less than 35 percent of general fund expenditures. The county’s current fund balance is 46 percent, so there is a significant amount of leeway.
Garland has also suggested that the county overhaul its sanitation department to reduce costs to its $1.1 million annual budget by closing off-site refuse sites and consolidating to one central location. The cost to dump the county’s garbage at a landfill in Haywood County has increased 47 percent, not counting fuel costs.
The county has been struck hard by rising costs for a range of things, including employee benefits (a 17.7 percent increase), supplies, building materials and fuel for its fleet of vehicles (an increase of 50-60 percent) – things that were unforeseen when the county approved its budget last year.
Garland recommended that commissioners review the new budget midway through the fiscal year to make further necessary adjustments to the budget.
On the bright side, the county anticipates that it will receive $135,000 more from sales tax revenue this fiscal year, a gain of 3.5 percent from last year – one offset to inflation itself resulting from inflation.
At $1.26 million, the county’s contribution to Graham County Schools won’t quite meet the requested $1.5 million, but Garland is recommending ongoing annual increases of 7 1/2 percent “as a good faith effort to help the school system meet the unfunded needs to help build their fund balance over time.”