The Anson County Board of Commissioners received its proposed Fiscal Year 2017-18 budget from county manager Megan Garner last month. The budget contains some suggested rate increases.
The commissioners held their regular meeting on May 2, then recessed and held the remainder of the meeting on May 24, when Garner presented the budget.
Water, sewer increases
The proposed budget contains water and wastewater fee increases, according to Garner. The current residential rate of $12 per first 2,000 gallons would go to $13.
The second tier of 2,001 to 8,000 gallons would go from $3.99 to $4.32, while the 8,001 to 90,000-gallon tier would increase from $2.84 to $3.07. The following four tiers also contain slight increases.
The residential sewer rate would go from $12 to $13 for the first 2,000 gallons, and from $2.94 to $3.18 for every 1,000 gallons after 2,000.
Municipality water and wastewater fees would also increase. Municipalities purchasing up to 100,000 gallons would go from $75 to $81.24. For 100,001 to 2,000,000 gallons, the fee would increase from $1.61 to $1.75. Subsequent tiers would also increase slightly.
Anson County Transportation System
The Anson County Transportation System would receive a new billing method next month if approved by the commissioners. ACTS would use a direct miles billing system that would charge riders based on the number of miles they travel.
Capital expenses
Garner said that the county will make several capital purchases this year if the current draft of the budget is approved.
The county would spend $350,000 for the design of a new Department of Social Services building, as well as $200,000 for new financial software. The county health department would receive $15,000 to repave its parking lot, while $35,000 would be used to replace the courthouse’s rooftop HVAC unit.
Equipment for the water department would come to about $150,000, and an additional $405,000 would be set aside for SCADA and upgrades. The wastewater department would receive $125,000 in upgrades.
The recommended budget includes $55,000 for a new EMS quick response vehicle and $460,000 for two new ambulances.
New, changed positions
Garner said she would like to see the county add a deputy fire marshal to support Rodney Diggs, the Anson County fire marshal and emergency services director.
Garner said that currently the county doesn’t perform all of the fire inspections that it needs to, and that adding the position could help with that.
A new GIS analyst position would also be added.
She also added a position for a health promotion coordinator to the budget. The position was proposed by Dr. Fred Thompson, director of the Anson County Health Department, in a meeting earlier this year. Thompson said that the position should help boost county residents’ awareness of health needs and good practices to follow. He said that while most counties have at least one or more health promotion coordinators, Anson hasn’t had one in several years.
Anson County Schools
Garner recommended that the county continue to fund the school system “level funding of $3,694,598 in current expense,” as well as $90,000 in capital outlay. A total of $221,554 would go to provide supplements for county teachers. The schools would receive $375,000 through the revenue of the one-quarter cent sales tax as well as about $185,000 in sales tax revenue from labor, according to her notes.
South Piedmont Community College
If approved, the budget would continue to fund $560,629 for South Piedmont Community College in current expenses and $233,250 for capital outlay.
As with the county school system, the community college would also receive about $185,000 in sales tax revenue from labor. The amount of that revenue is an estimate.
What stays the same
The proposed budget does not include a property tax rate increase, which will stay at $0.801 per $100 valuation. The property and fire taxes will also remain the same, according to Garner.
Full-time county employees will still have health insurance coverage, and will be enrolled in the State Health Plan on July 1. They will cover part of the cost, but a pay increase of $75 will begin in January 2018 to cover their cost, according to Garner.
The county will continue to provide $85,000 in economic development funding.
Before the presentation, county chairwoman Anna Baucom asked Garner to see if something could be done to boost employee salaries.
“I want to pay our employees a fair wage,” she said.
Baucom also said that the county could bring in more revenues if it was able to collect all that residents owe it, acknowledging the financial challenges that many face.
“At some point we need to have a discussion about how to get people to pay their property taxes without putting them out of their home,” Baucom said.
Reach reporter Imari Scarbrough at 704-994-5471 and follow her on Twitter @ImariScarbrough.