PENDER COUNTY — Employee pay and funding priorities were at the heart of discussion among Pender County commissioners who decided against approving its budget this week.
READ MORE: Pender County grapples with employee retention and recruitment ahead of budget
ALSO: Pender commissioners vote on EMS and Fire merger, exclude Rocky Point FD
Monday, Pender commissioners voted 4-1 in favor of earmarking the fiscal year 2025-26 budget for further discussion. Chair Randy Burton was the only one to vote in favor of adoption.
However, Pender County’s residents can expect stability in their tax bills for FY25-26, as the proposed $111 million budget includes no increase or change to the property tax rate — which is 73.75 cents per $100 value. Nor will it include an increase in fire and EMS tax rates and utility rates also remain unchanged.
“I think that the staff did a lot of hard work and had us in the place you wanted to be without raising taxes,” Burton said of his vote. “We made some tough decisions in the budget workshop, but we did allocate raises for county employees. I felt we’re at a good place with the raises that were given.”
The presented budget proposal would address employee retention and recruitment issues by adding a 3% cost-of-living adjustment for all employees, one-step increases for all employees hired before July 1, 2024, and a total of 232 reclassifications for employees.
However, Commissioner Jimmy Tate didn’t think the increase in salaries was sufficient, calling it “an embarrassment.”
“Passing this budget tonight is a shame to me of the salaries we are going to be giving people in 21st-century America,” Tate stated. “We ought to delay it and come back in here and adjust these salaries.”
Tate suggested adding one-time 10% raises for all employees who have been with the county for at least five years. For employees who have been with the county less than five years, he proposed raises of 5% and adding a $5,000 bonus split into two payments to be paid bi-annually.
“We’ve got the money in the fund balance, we need to invest it in the people,” Tate said. “At my own organization I’m very tough, but I’m very rewarding when it comes to paying people. You want them to stay with longevity when you can do it and I think we need to do it.”
While these raises were requested by Tate, total county employee salary spending has increased from the previous year from $32.4 million to $35 million in part due to nine added positions from the general fund. This includes four sheriff’s deputies, along with four detention officers — both are scheduled to start on January 1, 2026 in order to keep this year’s budget balanced. This falls short of the sheriff’s office’s requested eight deputies and 15 detention officers.
The sheriff’s office faces ongoing challenges with recruitment and retention, a situation exacerbated by high overtime costs. The sheriff’s office accumulated over $800,000 in overtime during FY24-25 and anticipates similar costs for FY25-26, largely due to patrol deputies covering vacant shifts.
Sheriff Alan Cutler said the additional four deputies would help reduce the amount of overtime paid, but “the difference won’t be major.”
“Well, he can’t not have overtime if you don’t have the people,” commissioner Brad George told Port City Daily. “So you gotta either fund one or the other.
To maintain the revenue-neutral tax rate, the proposed budget involved cuts across several departments including education.
Pender County Schools’ share of the budget will decrease to about 31% (roughly $35 million) from last year’s 40% (approximately $43 million). This reduction is due to the need to allocate a larger portion of the budget to debt payments for new capital projects as well as maintain a revenue-neutral tax rate.
This reduction comes even as the school district requested $11.7 million in capital outlay funding to address deferred maintenance, technology upgrades, and facility repairs across the district. However, capital outlay funding for schools remains at $2.9 million for the second consecutive year.
George, who served on the school board for 10 years, said adequate funding of schools is a top priority, which is one of the reasons he decided to vote against the budget. He added schools like Pender High School are in desperate need of upgrades, calling it in “terrible shape.”
“I challenge any of you to walk the halls of Pender High School,” George stated. “It should be a disgrace to Pender County for those students to have to go to that facility everyday.”
The proposed budget also included significant departmental changes, including the complete elimination of the tourism department.
Despite tourism being one of the county’s largest economic drivers alongside agriculture, generating around $200 million in economic activity last year, the department’s request for just under $300,000 this year was not met. This request had included funds for a new car and an additional employee. The separate Tourism Development Authority, funded by occupancy taxes, will remain operational.
“I just don’t think the return on investment was there for about $250,000 a year,” Burton said to Port City Daily. “It was just one of those things that it was a tough decision to make, and we have to move forward from there, reallocate some money to try to help our existing employees and the ones that we want to retain and recruit.”
Burton suggested using the county’s current communications department to fulfill the role of the tourism department, adding they can encourage tourism through the county’s social media accounts without the need for the department.
On the contrary, George does not support eliminating funding for the tourism department.
“I hate to see it go, tourism is a big part of Pender County’s income,” George said. “I wasn’t one of the ones that pushed for that department to be eliminated.”
As the county grapples with funding priorities, another significant infrastructure need remains the Pender County Courthouse.
Constructed in 1935, the courthouse is showing its age and has been severely impacted — notably by Hurricane Florence in 2018 which required approximately $6.6 million in repairs for extensive damage to the building. For years, courthouse officials have pushed for a new facility, citing the building’s limited space for staff and critical security concerns.
However, the county is already in the process of funding several major capital projects and Burton is concerned about the affordability of adding another large undertaking while not raising taxes. A new courthouse is projected to cost the county more than $50 million.
The proposed budget allocates a significant portion to debt payments, specifically 9% of the total budget this year, a rise from just 1% last year, totaling over $32 million. The increase is primarily to cover the new:
- School construction bonds, which total $178 million
- Law enforcement center, a project estimated at $65 million
- Health and Human Services building, just over $40 million
Burton agreed a new courthouse is needed, but it will likely have to wait until the current slate of capital projects is completed.
“We have to provide the space in courts for folks, but I want to make sure we get this Health and Human Services building and law enforcement center behind us in the rear view mirror, before we start embarking on another major capital project,” Burton stated.
Commissioners are looking to meet in the coming week or so to address items of concern. While there is currently not a set date for commissioners to approve the budget, commissioners and county staff have until midnight, June 30, to meet state guidelines. Next fiscal year begins July 1, 2025.
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