Graham’s city council members, during a budget workshop on Tuesday, expressed concerns about two issues that arose during the county manager’s budget presentation on Monday night that might affect the city’s budget.
The first alarming issue was the potential elimination of county funding for the public library in Graham.
County manager Heidi York included this option – which also envisioned closing libraries in Mebane and at North Park in Burlington – in a second alternative that provided a potential roadmap for how commissioners could achieve a county budget without any property tax increase.
York’s recommended budget recommends $229.7 million in spending from the county’s general fund, representing a 2 percent increase in spending with a 1.59-cent (3.4 percent) increase in the tax rate.
But the idea of shuttering the library, and particularly with so little advance notice, didn’t go over well with any of Graham’s five council members.
The $584,000 savings to the county, if transferred to the city, would translate to more than a 2-cent tax hike in Graham, if the city council opted to take over the funding to keep it open. (One cent on the city’s tax rate equals or generates about $270,000, Graham’s city manager Megan Garner had explained earlier in the meeting.)
Asked what the city might do with the space, if, indeed, the county ceased its operation of the Graham library, Garner readily volunteered, “We could always use the space.” (Graham’s library is across the parking lot from city hall.)
Garner read from the lease agreement between the city and county that provides that if the building is no longer used as a library, a determination on its use reverts to the city.
Several council members said that if the library is to be closed, the city needs to have a year to prepare, so perhaps it could be considered in the county’s and the city’s next fiscal year budget (that begins July 1, 2026).
“I hate to see our library go,” summarized council member Bonnie Whitaker.
“They [the county] need to give people more notice,” reiterated Graham mayor Jennifer Talley.
Talley suggested that perhaps the council should draft a letter to the county commissioners expressing their concerns about such an abrupt and consequential decision.
Municipal SROs could be eliminated
After the council took a break for lunch, city manager Garner began the afternoon session by sharing an email that had arrived from the school system that brought more groans among council members.
Correspondence from Greg Hook, ABSS chief operating officer, said that in light of the proposed budget unveiled by the county manager the previous night, the school system was uncertain whether it would be able to continue paying municipalities for school resource officers.
(Funding of $1.3 million for SROs at schools in the non-municipal areas would be transferred from ABSS to the sheriff’s office for SROs for the new fiscal year, under the proposal that the county manager described Tuesday night.)
ABSS has most recently given Graham $375,000 for five resource officers ($75,000 each) at North Graham and South Graham elementary schools, Graham Middle School, Graham High School, and the Ray Street Academy. [The $375,000 translates to about 1.38 cents on the city’s tax rate.]
Talley raised the question of whether SROs are really needed at the elementary school level in the first place.
But councilman Joey Parsons, who said his wife works at an ABSS elementary school, told Talley and other council members, “You would be in shock at what’s going on in elementary schools.”
Mayor pro tem Ricky Hall asked how much it would cost if the city needs to absorb the five SROs within Graham, to which Talley interjected, “I’m not going to pay for SROs [from the city’s budget]. That’s a school system expense. We’re just providing the officers.”
Parsons reiterated his view that SROs “are crucial to the safety of our schools.”
Council member Bonnie Whitaker said, “We don’t have the money” to fund the SRO positions.
On a practical level, council members discussed how the potential funding loss could affect the Graham police department and specifically whether the city would have to let any officers go as a result of the loss of funding for five positions.
Garner said there are currently four open non-SRO positions in the police department. She suggested that if ABSS drops its funding for SROs after July 1, the city would allow the remaining position to drop “by attrition.”
Talley expressed puzzlement at the ABSS position regarding the potential elimination of funding for SROs. “I just don’t understand” the ABSS position, she said as the council moved on to a review of other issues in its own budget.
