Guilford County Manager Mike Halford presented his recommended fiscal 2025-2026 budget to the Board of County Commissioners during the board’s regular meeting on Thursday, May 15, and the budget included a little something for everyone, but, in many cases, not as much as department directors and school leaders would have liked.
Halford’s total general county budget comes to $842 million, which compares to $834 million for the 2024-2025 budget adopted last June.
As compared to the leaps and bounds that the budget has grown in recent years under the Democratic-majority board, that’s a relatively small increase – however, one reason for that is that the commissioners have tapped the county out so badly that it simply isn’t mathematically possible to keep growing county government at a large pace since Halford and the commissioners can’t get blood out of a turnip. The county’s savings account, for instance, is already down to scary levels and the board has funded many new programs, added employees and given out generous raises and benefits year after year.
According to a statement put out by the county at the time Halford introduced his budget, “The recommended balanced budget aligns with the Board of County Commissioners’ ‘One Guilford’ initiative, emphasizing targeted enhancements to public safety and core county services, increasing operating support for education, and maintaining ongoing investments in capital projects and required debt service.”
As predicted, the new budget doesn’t include an increase in the tax rate: The manager’s recommended budget keeps a rate of 73.05 cents per $100 of assessed property value.
Here are some of the highlights of the recommended budget:
- $499 million is allocated to Guilford County Schools, charter schools and Guilford Technical Community College collectively.
- $463.7 million, is allocated to Guilford County Schools, including money for operations, school bond repayment and some capital needs.
- There’s an additional $3.1 million so the Guilford County Department of Health and Human Services can add 26 social worker positions to Children Services for assessment and foster care services, and provide more support to families, ensure child safety, and move children to permanent homes faster.
- The budget adds eight positions to support Food and Nutrition Services application processing – the program long known as “food stamps” when actual stamps were used – and the budget also adds three positions to speed up the application process that connects children and their families to quality, affordable child care.
- The budget contains an additional $2.1 million for Guilford County Emergency Services to establish four additional emergency response units needed for peak times.
- The manager’s proposed budget adds three new positions to address “systemic issues contributing to chronic homelessness” since the county has become the lead agency for addressing the problem of homelessness.
- The budget includes an additional $0.6 million for Animal Services to add eight positions meant to “steady operations, expand coverage for animal control, stabilize part-time needs, and expand oversight of the foster rescue program.”
The budget funds plenty of other things as well; for instance, it provides money for replacement vehicles and other new equipment for the Sheriff’s Office and Emergency Services.
There are too many programs and projects to name included in the huge budget book, but, among other things, it includes $2.4 million to fund libraries in Gibsonville, Greensboro, High Point, and Jamestown, and the budget contains a total of 3,067 county positions. This is equal to about 5.5 positions per 1,000 residents, which Halford likes to point out is one of the lowest position-to-resident ratios in the state.
There are more pay increases on the way if Halford gets his way. His budget proposal includes $2.4 million for performance-based merit program raises, which comes out to a merit pool equivalent of 3 percent.
It wouldn’t be a Guilford County budget if it didn’t include money for area non-profits. This year’s proposal includes over $2 million for Community-Based Organizations and Economic Development Organizations. Of that total, $1.74 million will be given to community-based organizations and $565,000 will support economic development groups.
Halford’s proposed budget recommends tax rate increases for rural fire districts in order “to strengthen operational and fiscal resiliency and provide funding for needed personnel and equipment.”
The county commissioners have scheduled tentative work sessions for Tuesday, June 10 and Thursday, June 12 to hold discussions to help finalize the fiscal 2025-2026 budget, which will go into effect July 1 of this year.
County residents are invited to attend and speak at a public hearing on the budget on Thursday, June 5, during the board’s regular meeting.
The commissioners expect to adopt the final budget during a meeting on Wednesday, June 18.
It may be the first ever county budget adopted on a Wednesday. The commissioners regular meetings fall on the first and third Thursdays of each month; however, June 19 is now a holiday and this is the first year that Juneteenth conflicts with the commissioners’ mid-June meeting.
The full recommended fiscal 2025-2026 budget is available at guilfordcountync.gov/countybudget.
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