Last night, Cumberland County Manager Amy Cannon presented a recommended budget for the 2023 fiscal year to the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners. 

The budget would maintain the County’s property tax rate of 79.9 cents per $100 valuation. 

Slightly under $553M in expenditures are included in the recommended budget. $362 million of those would be general fund expenses.

Keeping in mind the pandemic and other challenges to the economy such as inflation, rising fuel prices, the conflict in Ukraine and supply chain issues, Cannon believes that the budget would continue “the County’s focus on resilience, recovery, and restructuring,” a press release said. 

The budget would include increases in projected property and sales tax collections. “On the expenditure side, the budget addresses projected increase in health insurance costs, employer contributions to the retirement system, and property and cybersecurity insurance,” the press release said. 

Among the areas addressed in the budget are several ongoing priorities of the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners.  

Below is a list of the priorities from the County’s public information office:

• --“Continuing to move forward with the replacement of the Crown Theatre and Arena with anticipated site review and selection, land procurement, updating and refining project cost estimates, and procurement of a design/construction team.”
• --“Allocating $258,600 to move forward with Phase 1 of the Gray’s Creek Water Project to serve two elementary schools and residential customers located along the route.”
• --“Moving forward with addressing homelessness including identifying potential sites for a homeless shelter.”
• --“Maintaining local funding for mental health services and recommending utilizing existing MCO fund balance to increase levels of mental health and substance abuse services in the county.”
• --“Providing $390,254 for a pilot project to provide in-home case management and care coordination to help address the social determinants of health and reduce barriers and gaps in services to those most in need.”
• --“Including $50,000 for a pilot transportation program to address transportation access issues for citizens receiving services from the Public Health Department.”

Additionally, the budget includes:

• --“$755,657 for 15 new positions (not including the new positions related to the in-home case management and care coordination program).”
• --“$84.3 million in current expense funding for Cumberland County Schools, representing 43.47% of the property tax rate and an increase of $1.3 million from FY2022.”
• --“An additional $3.9 million in funding to Cumberland County Schools for School Health Nurses, School Resource Officers, and School Crossing Guards.”
• --“$14.2 million in current expense funding for Fayetteville Technical Community College, which is an increase of $935,000.”
• --“$2 million to replace 32 vehicles (21 from the Sheriff’s Office and Detention Center).”

Initiatives to address recruitment and retention issues in the workforce include: 

– “Funding for a 4% cost-of-living adjustment for County employees.”

– “Additional market adjustments to increase the entry level salary rates for sheriff’s deputies and detention officers.”

--“$95,000 to conduct an organization-wide classification and market study to address salary compression, inequity, and competitive pay within ranges.”

--“Funding for a pilot project to transition social workers in DSS to permanent remote work, which could be expanded to other County departments in future years.”

The recommended budget is available on the county’s website at cumberlandcountync.gov. The Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing on the proposed budget on Monday, June 6 at 7 p.m. in Room 118 of the courthouse. Citizens who would like to comment on the proposed budget during the public hearing may, but are not required to, sign up prior to the start of the meeting. A sign-up sheet will be available in the room. Individuals may also call the Clerk to the Board at 910-678-7771 or email cwhite@co.cumberland.nc.us.

According to North Carolina law, the Board may adopt the budget no earlier than 10 days after it is presented.

Full Budget Meeting Schedule

Budget Work Session                         June 1 at 5:30 p.m. Room 564, Courthouse

Public Hearing                                June 6 at 7 p.m.      Room 118, Courthouse

Budget Work Session                         June 8 at 5:30 p.m. Room 564, Courthouse

Budget Work Session                         June 13 at 5:30 p.m.   Room 564, Courthouse

Budget Work Session (if needed)   June 15 at 5:30 p.m.   Room 564, Courthouse