The Alamance County Manager has submitted his proposed budget for fiscal year 2020-2021 to the Alamance County Board of Commissioners. A public hearing on the proposed budget ordinance will be held on Monday, June 15, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. in the Alamance County Historic Courthouse located at: 1 Court Square, Graham, NC 27253.
The health and safety of its residents continues to be the highest priority of Alamance County. Under the Governor’s Executive Order 141 Section 7, governmental operations are exempt from the prohibition on Mass Gatherings. In recognition of the Governor’s Recommendations to Promote Social Distancing and Reduce Transmission, there will be limited seating available at the Alamance County Historic Courthouse. Pursuant to Executive Order 141 Section 4, press will be permitted to attend. All interested citizens wishing to comment on the budget can do so in the following ways:
Oral Comments – Citizens wishing to make oral comments may attend the public hearing on Monday, June 15th at 7:00pm at the Alamance County Historic Courthouse, Graham, NC. (There will be limited seating available.)
Additionally, persons wishing to submit their public comments orally during the meeting, may do so by telephone. These persons must provide the Clerk to the Board with their name, address, topic to be discussed, and telephone number by calling 336-290-0403 and leaving a message no later than 9:00 P.M. on June 14th. Then at the appropriate time during the Commissioners’ meeting on June 15th at 7:00 P.M. the citizen will be called to submit their comments verbally by phone.
Written Public Comments – Beginning June 4th, citizens are encouraged to submit written public comments for the June 15th budget public hearing:
- A public comment form will be available on the Alamance County website for any persons wishing to submit written comments prior to the start of the meeting. Written comments received prior to the start of the June 15th meeting will be entered into the record and minutes at the June 15th Regular Meeting.
The proposed budget ordinance is available online on the Alamance County website:
https://www.alamance-nc.com/finance/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/06/Managers-Recommended-Budget-2020-21-Message-Ordinance.pdf where it shall remain available until the budget ordinance is adopted. Copies are available in the offices of the Finance Officer and the Clerk to the Board for public inspection from 8:00am to 5:00pm, Monday-Friday. The following is a summary of the proposed General Fund Budget:
EXPENDITURES
- General Government – 10,751,597
- Education & Education Debt – 66,743,861
- Human Services – 33,174,278
- Public Safety – 39,338,441
- Support Services – 6,141,977
- Community Services – 8,686,053
- Non-Education Debt Service – 2,779,736
Total – $167,615,943
SOURCES OF FUNDS
- Property Taxes – 100,104,666
- Federal & State Funds – 23,808,570
- Sales Tax – 24,633,643
- Fees & Charges – 11,097,500
- Interest Earnings – 700,000
- Other Revenues – 2,483,021
- Designated Fund Balance -1,288,543
- Appropriated Fund Balance – 3,500,000
Total – $167,615,943
The recommended General Fund Tax Rate is $0.67 per $100 of assessed valuation. Recommended tax rates for fire districts are:
| Fire District | Current Tax Rate | Proposed Tax Rate |
| 54 East | 0.0900 | 0.0900 |
| Altamahaw-Ossipee | 0.1400 | 0.1400 |
| E. M. Holt | 0.1175 | 0.1175 |
| East Alamance | 0.1050 | 0.1050 |
| Eli Whitney/87South | 0.0800 | 0.1100 |
| Elon | 0.1100 | 0.1200 |
| Faucette | 0.1100 | 0.1200 |
| Haw River | 0.1350 | 0.1350 |
| North Central Alamance | 0.1150 | 0.1150 |
| North Eastern Alamance | 0.1000 | 0.1000 |
| Snow Camp | 0.0950 | 0.0950 |
| Swepsonville | 0.0900 | 0.0900 |
An overview of the 2020-2021 proposed general fund budget includes:
- Fiscal year 2020-21 budget totals $209,166,397
- Property tax rate is recommended to remain at $0.67
- Property tax revenue is projected to increase due to overall tax base growth by 2.5% or $2,458,374
- Sales tax revenue is projected to decrease by 20% from projected FY 19-20 amounts.
- Makes use of $3,500,000 in appropriated fund balance for operations, $1,518,539 less than the previous year’s allocation
- Uses $1,066,719 in designated funds from sources including revaluation, performance management savings, etc. and $221,824 for grant matching funds
- Reduces proposed general fund spending by $14,101,278 from budget retreat requests, and $4,289,171 from previous fiscal year general fund spending
- Eliminates County CIP funding, limits capital equipment to public safety only
- Provides funding for the Alamance County Capital Finance Plan for ABSS’ and ACC’s proposed bond costs and paygo projects at a reduced level for ABSS due to decreased restricted sales tax revenue
- Eliminates the 2.0% merit increase for County employees
- Freezes hiring for 25 full time employee and 5 part time employee positions
- Adds one new School Resource Officer employee funded by ABSS contract
- Accommodates required $884,968 increase for employee retirement costs and retiree insurance
- Reduces education operations spending by $500,000
- Recommends approval of fire district tax increases for Faucette, Elon and Eli Whitney VFDs
This 3rd day of June 2020.
Tory M. Frink, Clerk to the Board
Alamance County
