Commissioners react to proposed tax hike, spending cuts

The county manager’s budget presentation went down much like a spoonful of castor oil with Alamance County’s board of commissioners on Monday.

The proposed property tax increase that county manager Heidi York had suggested proved especially galling to commissioner Ed Priola, who has consistently opposed any hike in this rate since he joined the board of commissioners after last fall’s election.

“We’ve got to face the simple truth: Every dollar we spend comes from somebody who earns that dollar. We need to reject a tax increase. We need to find the money for things that are essential. . . We need to work better with what we’ve got, not what we wish we had.”

– County commissioner Ed Priola

“We’ve got to face the simple truth: Every dollar we spend comes from somebody who earns that dollar,” Priola declared after York had shared her suggestions. “We need to reject a tax increase. We need to find the money for things that are essential… We need to work better with what we’ve got, not what we wish we had.”

Priola went on to reiterate a controversial proposal he proffered earlier this month to divest the county of its financial responsibility for the local library system. In response to the subsequent backlash, the commissioner asserted that he didn’t advocate actually closing the libraries, although he went on to characterize them as “bloated” and preoccupied with peripheral matters like the promotion of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Priola went on to take issue with the county manager’s recommendation for a “merit-based” pay raise, which he speculated goes to some people “who probably don’t deserve that merit pay.”

The county’s library system received a few words of defense from commissioner Pam Thompson, who also objected to the county manager’s proposed reductions to parks and recreation as well as the Alamance-Burlington school system.

A one-time member of the Alamance-Burlington school board, Thompson insisted that the county shouldn’t balance its budget at the expense of teachers and other school system staff who may have to forgo increases in their locally-funded salary supplements under York’s proposed spending plan.

“We just seem to keep hitting the very ones who are building the foundations of our county.”

– County commissioner Pam Thompson

“We just seem to keep hitting the very ones who are building the foundations of our county,” she declared.

Thompson proceeded to suggest that the county should trim its expenses by abandoning a multimillion dollar courthouse expansion that’s partially funded in the current annual budget. She also suggested mothballing the state-subsidized renovation of a former industrial building that was originally supposed to house the now-separate banks of emergency operators that the county and the city of Burlington operate. This overhaul has continued to move forward even though Burlington has opted out of this consolidated 9-1-1 center.

“We should put on the market and sell it,” the commissioner said.

Commissioner Kelly Allen, who likewise joined the board after last fall’s election, set her own sights on the county’s recurring allocation to the Burlington-Alamance Regional Airport – an outlay that began as a way to stimulate the development of aviation-based industries.

“We’ve been paying [for the Burlington-Alamance Airport] since 2008, and personally, I think they should be self-supporting by now . . . That’s a lot of money that could go to other things.”

– County commissioner Kelly Allen

“We’ve been paying this since 2008,” Allen recalled, “and personally, I think they should be self-supporting by now…That’s a lot of money that could go to other things.”

Allen recollected that the county’s contribution to the airport’s governing authority had began at about $250,000. Under the county manager’s proposed budget, the airport authority would receive $534,698 from the county’s general fund.

Allen went on to list of roster of departments and agencies that she said should have higher priority than the airport. In the meantime, she raised some misgivings about the county manager’s proposed property tax increase.

“Has anybody looked at the tax liens that are listed in the paper?” she inquired rhetorically. “If people can’t pay their taxes, we’re not going to collect their taxes, unless we sell their property on the courthouse steps.”

The county’s tax rate was also on the mind of John Paisley, Jr., the chairman of Alamance County’s commissioners. Paisley nevertheless defended York’s decision to recommend this hike over a competing proposal that would’ve maintained this levy at its current level through spending reductions.

“We asked our county manager to come up with a zero budget and she did just that. But her real duty is to come up with a recommended budget. . . and she did exactly what her job requires her to do.”

– County commissioner chairman John Paisley, Jr.

“We asked our county manager to come up with a zero budget and she did just that,” the board’s chairman went on to add.  “But her real duty is to come up with a recommended budget…and she did exactly what her job requires her to do.”

But perhaps the summative statement of the evening came from Steve Carter, who serves as the vice chairman of Alamance County’s commissioners.

“This has been a pretty bleak night. We have gone from being able to do so many things in Alamance County to being hamstrung.

“I would encourage our citizens to take the time to look at the budget numbers. We really need to get a handle this year on what our citizens want.”

– County commissioner vice chairman Steve Carter

“This has been a pretty bleak night,” Carter told the rest of the county’s governing board. “We have gone from being able to do so many things in Alamance County to being hamstrung.

“I would encourage our citizens to take the time to look at the budget numbers,” he added. “We really need to get a handle this year on what our citizens want.”

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