[1:59] Mhm.
[3:06] » Good evening, everyone.
[3:08] Welcome to the Board of Commissioners
[3:10] special meeting and public hearing of
[3:12] the proposed annual budget for FY
[3:15] 2026-2027
[3:17] for June 2nd, 2026 at 6:30 p.m.
[3:21] Can I have a motion to adopt the agenda?
[3:24] >> So moved.
[3:26] » So moved.
[3:26] >> All in favor?
[3:27] » All in favor?
[3:27] >> Aye.
[3:28] » Aye.
[3:28] >> Okay.
[3:30] » Okay.
[3:30] >> The agenda is adopted.
[3:32] » The agenda is adopted.
[3:32] Uh can I have a motion to open the
[3:34] public hearing?
[3:36] >> So moved.
[3:40] » All in favor?
[3:41] >> Aye.
[3:42] » Aye.
[3:42] >> Aye.
[3:43] » Aye.
[3:43] >> Okay. Public hearing is now open.
[3:48] Uh can I uh
[3:49] verify with the clerk?
[3:52] I now open the public hearing for the
[3:54] proposed fiscal budget 2026-2027
[3:57] for the annual budget for Waxhaw. Clerk,
[4:00] do you have a verification notice?
[4:02] >> Yes, the notice of this public hearing
[4:04] » Yes, the notice of this public hearing
[4:04] was published in accordance with the
[4:06] North Carolina General Statute 159-12.
[4:10] The proposed budget has been available
[4:12] for public inspection in the clerk's
[4:14] office and on the town's website since
[4:17] May 21st, 2026.
[4:20] >> Thank you.
[4:21] » Thank you.
[4:21] So, we have our presentation by our town
[4:24] manager, Scott Dodson.
[4:42] » Good [snorts] evening, mayor and Board
[4:44] of Commissioners.
[4:46] This evening, I'm proud to present the
[4:48] uh
[4:49] budget for fiscal year 26-27.
[4:53] Um I have a brief presentation that'll
[4:55] go over some of the highlighted portions
[4:57] of that, but as the clerk noted,
[5:01] the budget has been available to the
[5:03] public both on our website and here at
[5:05] town hall. So, people could review it
[5:08] and look at it.
[5:10] Um so, we're going to go through this
[5:12] very brief presentation and then I'd be
[5:14] happy to answer any questions that the
[5:15] commissioners have.
[5:19] Um so, by North Carolina law, I'm
[5:22] presenting a balanced budget and I am
[5:24] not recommending a tax rate increase.
[5:27] So, what does that mean?
[5:29] The total budget presented to you folks
[5:31] is 26.99
[5:33] million
[5:34] and that is balanced between revenues
[5:37] and expenditures. The tax rate um is the
[5:40] same as the current year and that is 29
[5:43] cent per hundred valuation.
[5:46] The increase in the budget is a total of
[5:49] 1.75%
[5:51] over the prior year in um total cost and
[5:55] revenue.
[6:00] The board met um earlier in 2026 and
[6:04] talked about their top-tier strategic
[6:06] priorities and as part of this budget um
[6:10] the staff put together their budget
[6:12] request
[6:13] uh understanding what those top-tier
[6:15] strategies are. One, investment uh in
[6:19] managing and expanding infrastructure
[6:22] capacity and connectivity to support
[6:24] growth that is both already happened and
[6:28] uh may be coming.
[6:29] Growth management, foster a sustainable
[6:32] development approach that balances
[6:33] residential growth with commercial
[6:35] diversification.
[6:38] Three, economic sustainability, create
[6:41] opportunities for long-term fiscal
[6:43] resilience and economic vitality and
[6:45] organizational development. And that is
[6:49] uh cultivate a resilient and unified
[6:50] organization that um looks to serve uh
[6:54] the citizens and residents of Waxhaw uh
[6:57] to the best of its ability.
[7:00] So, let's look at the revenues.
[7:03] In the revenues, um which total 26.99
[7:07] million, of that
[7:09] 15.32
[7:10] million are property and vehicle taxes.
[7:13] So, they make up uh the majority of
[7:16] revenues for the town. The next one
[7:19] would be sales and use tax. In Union
[7:22] County, they redistribute that based
[7:24] upon your ad valorem rate and uh uh
[7:28] other statutory requirements and that is
[7:31] at 5.87 million.
[7:34] Fees and other uh are about 1.64
[7:37] million.
[7:38] That includes building fees
[7:40] um
[7:41] uh fees for use of facilities and those
[7:44] kinds of things in the town. We don't
[7:45] have a lot of fees, but we do have um,
[7:48] enough that they are also in uh,
[7:51] this budget as well.
[7:52] Franchise tax of 1.3 million, special
[7:56] revenue funds about 1.17.
[7:59] I have recommended in this budget a $1
[8:02] million fund balance transfer from
[8:04] unappropriated fund balance in order to
[8:06] balance the budget.
[8:08] The last amount that we get are other
[8:10] state revenue shared revenues. Those
[8:13] would be things like alcohol taxes
[8:16] from the ABC store and other ABC permits
[8:21] as an example.
[8:23] Expenditures by department. Um, sorry if
[8:27] not everyone can read this out who is
[8:29] here tonight, but let me go through
[8:31] those briefly. Our largest department is
[8:34] the police department at
[8:36] 6.36 million. Parks and recreation is
[8:40] 2.6, sanitation by itself
[8:44] is 2.58
[8:47] million.
[8:49] Public services, which manages
[8:51] sanitation and facilities management,
[8:54] um, is next at 2.22 million.
[8:58] Uh, debt service we have pulled out to
[9:00] show what debt service is and that is
[9:02] debt service on the town campus. That
[9:05] would be town hall, public facilities
[9:08] for public services and parks and
[9:09] recreation.
[9:12] As well as debt service that is entering
[9:15] its last two years on the police
[9:17] department building on 16.
[9:21] Administration comes in next at 1.69
[9:25] and that is the overall administration
[9:27] of the town.
[9:29] Um, information technology, as all of
[9:31] you know who work on a day-to-day basis
[9:34] in any organization, IT is a big part of
[9:37] what we do and how we communicate and
[9:38] how we store store information and all
[9:41] the other things that we do.
[9:43] Engineering, we have uh we're fortunate
[9:45] to have an engineering department here
[9:47] that both reviews incoming plans as well
[9:50] as assist in overseeing uh the our asset
[9:54] management program as well as working
[9:56] with public services and others
[9:59] uh to uh deal with storm water, uh
[10:02] roads, um lighting and other kinds of
[10:05] things that go on around town.
[10:07] Facilities management um was actually a
[10:09] new department. It's handled and managed
[10:11] under public services at .82 uh million
[10:15] and they manage all of our facilities uh
[10:18] from the inside perspective and some
[10:20] outside.
[10:21] Planning and zoning then becomes the
[10:23] next one and that is where we had code
[10:25] enforcement as well. Uh building
[10:28] inspections is its own standalone
[10:30] department but works with and under
[10:32] planning and zoning and engineering.
[10:34] Then we have another internal service uh
[10:37] human resources,
[10:38] finance,
[10:39] uh business development uh which
[10:42] concentrates the the majority of its
[10:43] town time and talents in downtown as
[10:47] well as assisting in other economic
[10:48] development efforts around the town.
[10:50] Emergency management, we do house the
[10:52] fire marshal as well as transfer dollars
[10:55] over to the Waxhaw Fire Department.
[10:58] Um tax,
[11:00] that's the portion that the county takes
[11:02] uh when they collect the taxes for us.
[11:04] Most taxes are paid one time and uh
[11:07] that's our percentage. If you didn't
[11:09] have that there, you'd have people and
[11:11] uh you'd have a tax collector. So, the
[11:13] county does that for us but still cost
[11:15] us.
[11:16] Uh we have code enforcement standalone
[11:18] again. It's part of planning and zoning,
[11:20] building inspections and engineering,
[11:23] what we call development services and
[11:25] then the Board of Commissioners is last
[11:27] at um at .13 million.
[11:32] Um we again these presentations are made
[11:36] public so people can look at it. Some
[11:37] people view how these things are done a
[11:39] little bit differently. We tried to
[11:41] represent and regroup some of our um
[11:45] efforts and and the services that we
[11:47] provide in this way. About 26.8% of a
[11:51] dollar or 26.8 cents goes to public
[11:54] safety and that's police and emergency
[11:55] management. 14.9 cent out of a dollar is
[11:59] infrastructure and operations so that's
[12:01] public services, facility management,
[12:03] and engineering.
[12:04] Uh 12.7 is your general government and
[12:07] that is board of commissioners, admin,
[12:09] finance, tax, human resources.
[12:12] Parks and recreation is next at 10.2
[12:16] cents. Garbage is 9.4 cents of your
[12:19] dollar that you pay for every dollar.
[12:22] Uh your debt service is 8.5 cents.
[12:26] Um community development, that's
[12:27] planning and zoning, building, code
[12:29] enforcement, and business development,
[12:31] about 7.9. IT, about 5.6. IT's really
[12:35] become an infrastructure for us. As a
[12:37] basic rule, it's kind of how we have to
[12:39] base a lot of our operations. And uh at
[12:42] one time IT expenses were across in each
[12:45] department. Now we've combined them all
[12:47] into one department so that we can
[12:49] understand our um
[12:51] infrastructure better and our costs
[12:53] associated with same.
[12:55] The last uh last four cents is for
[12:57] capital investments and that's for
[12:58] capital reserve, capital outlay, and uh
[13:02] capital outlay reserves.
[13:05] So the three big drivers that are really
[13:08] driving up uh the need to stay at our
[13:11] current tax rate uh come from outside
[13:14] sourcing that is uh beyond our control.
[13:17] About 2.58 million or an increase of
[13:20] 418,000
[13:22] for residential waste and that comes
[13:23] from two things. One, they have an
[13:25] automatic kicker in their contract which
[13:28] is up in 2028.
[13:30] That is normal in those contract means
[13:32] for about 4% 4.3
[13:35] and we grew
[13:36] to about 7253
[13:39] households up from 7000. So that
[13:42] pass-through cost is paid out of the tax
[13:44] rate but that was about a $418,000
[13:47] increase.
[13:49] $344,000
[13:51] or an increase of 104 for fuel gas and
[13:53] oil. Anyone going to the pump I probably
[13:56] don't have to say too much but we have a
[13:59] very spread out town and so we have to
[14:02] do a lot of traveling by
[14:04] vehicles.
[14:06] $310,000
[14:08] that's up 55,000 for street lights. As
[14:11] you folks know in the past year you've
[14:13] taken on more streets as they've been
[14:14] turned over and that increase one of the
[14:17] things we pay for our sidewalks, street
[14:18] trees and
[14:21] street lights.
[14:24] We also have other cost that are rising
[14:28] in there and I think it's worth noting
[14:29] facility electric as you can imagine
[14:31] electric rates are increasing and
[14:33] vehicle maintenance.
[14:35] Those are pass-through pass-through
[14:37] growth driven cost not discretionary
[14:40] spending. So these are things we are
[14:41] just trying to make sure that we're
[14:44] capturing and paying to maintain our
[14:47] systems.
[14:48] So staffing and compensation. So we have
[14:51] 110 full-time positions and the
[14:55] equivalency of 15 part-time positions.
[14:59] In that 110 are four new patrol
[15:03] officers. So that is part of a
[15:05] three-year plan for the police
[15:06] department to bring our numbers on
[15:08] patrolling officers throughout the
[15:11] town up to the standards that our
[15:14] citizens expect and that are also
[15:16] industrial standards.
[15:18] That that rating system of of how many
[15:21] officers per thousand.
[15:23] In that compensation approach, we have
[15:25] 2.5% for cost of living adjustment, and
[15:29] then we have a merit pool per department
[15:32] of 2%. Um the board discussed at their
[15:35] work session last week, and you'll
[15:37] discuss again on the 9th, how we
[15:39] formalize that that pool and how that
[15:42] works.
[15:43] Uh the officers that would be coming in,
[15:46] also it should be noted, would come in
[15:47] at at the half-year mark.
[15:54] So, in capital, the board adopted
[15:57] earlier, about a month and a half or so
[15:59] ago,
[16:00] a CIP plan, capital improvement plan.
[16:04] In that, that is a 5-year look,
[16:07] of which the board debated and
[16:09] prioritized over 49 projects, valued at
[16:14] 13.3 million over 5 years.
[16:18] Now,
[16:19] so folks in the audience knows they
[16:21] adopted you folks adopted that by
[16:23] resolution, which means it is a plan.
[16:26] Uh when you appropriate is the next box
[16:29] over, and that is the fiscal year the
[16:31] proposed fiscal year
[16:33] 27 CIP ordinance. This is when we
[16:36] actually appropriate dollars. Um the
[16:39] board has been working for the last
[16:40] couple of months to understand their um
[16:45] cash position, both unassigned,
[16:48] assigned, committed. Um so the amount of
[16:52] 5,972,749
[16:56] dollars for the CIP ordinance actually
[16:59] comes entirely drawn from your savings
[17:01] account. So, your reserved
[17:04] uh CIP fund dollars, and uh the town
[17:09] board went through a lot of discussion
[17:11] about how we're
[17:13] where we put those dollars and what
[17:15] they're for. So, this ordinance is
[17:17] simply drawing them down. This does not
[17:19] reflect any new dollars in that. These
[17:22] are all reserved dollars for various
[17:24] projects.
[17:25] Um so, the ordinate the plan plans it.
[17:30] The ordinance appropriates it for this
[17:32] year.
[17:34] So, the capital projects funded for
[17:36] fiscal year 27, uh again, the total
[17:39] amount is 5. 9
[17:42] 72749
[17:44] million.
[17:45] Uh Pine Oak signal,
[17:48] 1675 Broom intersection, which is um
[17:52] a rather large project as you can see by
[17:54] the dollar amount and that is only our
[17:56] portion of it.
[17:57] Um there are also other dollars that
[17:59] come in and support this from the state
[18:02] and federal level.
[18:04] Kensington is a project by itself and
[18:07] you're beginning to see some of that
[18:08] work as you go to the Harris Teeter down
[18:10] Kensington.
[18:11] Helms Road extension is
[18:15] for this fiscal year will be the right
[18:17] of way. You've already started the
[18:19] dollar 750,000
[18:22] last year
[18:23] for design.
[18:25] The Helms Road, and you see that number
[18:28] next. 75 and Old Providence is another
[18:31] intersection set of
[18:33] intersection improvements at 710.
[18:36] The Mill Bridge signal, which is a
[18:38] signal right out of town hall here going
[18:41] towards the South Carolina line. It is a
[18:43] signal to allow for proper movement in
[18:46] and out of that development onto that
[18:48] road. As you all know, there are some
[18:50] blind sections in there.
[18:53] So, slowing traffic down in there is
[18:54] very important.
[18:55] Uh Kensington and a CARPO grant has come
[18:58] in to actually help that Kensington
[19:00] project up top.
[19:04] So, um
[19:07] at a date in the future, our
[19:09] recommendation is at your next regular
[19:10] meeting on the 9th,
[19:12] the board has the opportunity to adopt
[19:15] by ordinance the operating budget.
[19:16] That's the 26.99 million dollar budget
[19:19] balanced budget.
[19:21] And secondly, a capital improvement
[19:23] ordinance that appropriates those for a
[19:26] total of 5.9
[19:28] million
[19:29] for for that capital improvement
[19:32] ordinance.
[19:33] So,
[19:34] that is my presentation. Can I answer
[19:36] any questions of the board?
[19:45] » Scott, just like to start by saying
[19:47] thank you.
[19:49] Thank you to your
[19:51] the staff and the department heads
[19:53] for working with us, aligning with us
[19:58] all the way starting all the way back as
[19:59] I noted [clears throat] in our work
[20:00] sessions and our board retreat.
[20:04] And when we found that we were more
[20:06] aligned and rowing in the same direction
[20:09] and staff was hearing what we were
[20:11] seeking
[20:12] and that they were actually seeking
[20:14] similar things in a parallel track.
[20:17] I just would like to start by saying I
[20:18] know we are very appreciative of our
[20:20] staff
[20:22] and the work that they do for our town
[20:24] and our residents.
[20:27] With that,
[20:28] I'd like to go ahead and open up the mic
[20:31] to any of my other commissioners.
[20:33] >> Does anybody have anything else they'd
[20:35] » Does anybody have anything else they'd
[20:35] like to add or any questions?
[20:37] >> I'd also like to say thank you town
[20:39] » I'd also like to say thank you town
[20:39] manager and staff. I really appreciate
[20:41] all the work that's been put into this
[20:43] and especially uh
[20:46] what the staff has done with the
[20:48] reduction we asked for. I know it's not
[20:50] easy
[20:51] to do that and
[20:53] haven't
[20:55] I'm not a lifelong resident of Waxhaw,
[20:57] but um
[20:58] I don't remember a time when you know, a
[21:01] specific reduction number was put out by
[21:04] a Waxhaw board like this and um
[21:08] so it's I know I understand it's
[21:10] difficult and a bit of a new thing for
[21:12] you guys, but um I think it's also
[21:15] something you can take pride in that
[21:16] you've been true public servants
[21:18] with and public stewards of the
[21:21] taxpayers' money. So, thank you very
[21:23] much.
[21:25] >> Madam Mayor, would you like me to expand
[21:28] » Madam Mayor, would you like me to expand
[21:28] on that
[21:29] >> Yes, I was just going to say that, you
[21:30] » Yes, I was just going to say that, you
[21:30] know, uh Commissioner Don talked about
[21:32] um our discussions from our work session
[21:35] on May 5th and that we had asked if
[21:37] there was any more room, any wiggle room
[21:40] from the departments and we left it up
[21:42] to you all because you know what you
[21:44] need to operate day-to-day. Um we're
[21:46] always looking for savings and I know
[21:48] the taxpayers appreciate it and uh I
[21:50] also do would like to extend a thank you
[21:52] because um it is always more difficult
[21:56] to work with less, but and
[21:58] uh we appreciate the effort.
[22:01] >> So, let me go ahead and expand on both
[22:03] » So, let me go ahead and expand on both
[22:03] of your comments uh if that's okay. Um
[22:06] at last week's work session and actually
[22:08] this board has been working in working
[22:09] session for last month and a half.
[22:11] You've been dealing with capital, you've
[22:13] been dealing with uh what money do you
[22:14] have in reserve and making sure that you
[22:16] have those things there and we've been
[22:19] talking about the budget in
[22:20] generalities. Then we got a little bit
[22:22] more specific and into operations and
[22:24] personnel and then we got into um a a
[22:28] more generalized conversation by the
[22:30] board where you folks talked about
[22:32] several directions. So, um what I
[22:35] presented tonight um at in the first
[22:38] part of this meeting was the proposed
[22:40] budget by me, the the the manager with
[22:44] the assistance of a great uh team of um
[22:48] department heads and um as well as other
[22:51] staff who just really, you know, put
[22:53] their best foot forward to do that. So,
[22:56] at that work session meeting last week,
[22:58] the board asked us to consider some
[23:00] operational cost reductions and had a
[23:02] series of board questions. So, this
[23:05] very small presentation hopes to answer
[23:08] that. The board also has a memo from me
[23:10] on this that expands this in a little
[23:12] bit more detail as you debate the
[23:14] budget.
[23:16] So, the board directions were two
[23:19] concerns in general. Operational cost
[23:22] reduction, could we find and identify a
[23:24] minimum of 5% reductions in those
[23:26] operational costs? You had some specific
[23:30] focuses into IT software and travel
[23:32] expenses. So,
[23:34] I highlight that because we heard you
[23:36] and we we tried to deal with some of
[23:38] those areas and I'll talk about that as
[23:40] in a second.
[23:41] Second was the board had a concern about
[23:43] fund balance preservation. So, my
[23:45] recommendation is a million-dollar
[23:47] drawdown.
[23:48] If you do the savings reduction, can you
[23:51] decrease that drawdown in your savings
[23:53] accounts? And these are your unassigned
[23:55] savings accounts. So, staff, I really
[23:59] have to commend and I appreciate y'all
[24:01] highlighting them. Uh we sat around in a
[24:05] room. Nobody complained. Everybody put a
[24:07] piece of paper to a pencil, pencil to a
[24:10] piece of paper, and worked it out. And
[24:13] they worked with each other, and I'm
[24:14] really proud of what they were able to
[24:16] do. So, our staff response, I want to
[24:19] talk about it is twofold. One,
[24:22] they found the 5% target and actually
[24:25] exceeded that up to a 7% reduction in
[24:29] operations. Um and that total is around
[24:32] 511,000.
[24:34] Um we recommend preserving the current
[24:36] tax rate in order to do that. That would
[24:39] allow less money to be drawn down from
[24:43] fund balance. So, in the important
[24:44] budget context down below,
[24:47] um
[24:48] I want to remind the board that 577,000
[24:52] is that uncontrollable cost increase
[24:54] that is out there, which means it stacks
[24:57] the next year.
[24:59] Just want fair warning for the board.
[25:01] So, um I know you folks are conscious of
[25:03] that, but that those costs will stack.
[25:06] Um
[25:07] and you know, of course, we've
[25:08] recommended those be remain in the
[25:10] budget, so we worked around those into
[25:12] other areas of operation.
[25:14] Um and that would allow you to only have
[25:17] to draw down 488,570
[25:20] dollars in in your unassigned fund
[25:22] balance, thus preserving around 511 in
[25:25] in your savings accounts for future
[25:27] needs.
[25:28] So, um but I I I I wanted to make that
[25:32] caveat context just so you know, there
[25:34] are stacking costs. Everybody's living
[25:36] with inflation. Nobody likes a price
[25:39] that goes up. Um unfortunately, those
[25:41] prices
[25:43] don't always go down. So, um the cost of
[25:46] operating uh this organization like your
[25:48] household is going up.
[25:51] Um so, what we found in general
[25:52] operations was around 419,000.
[25:57] And in addition, uh 91,000 out of uh
[26:01] and I want to clarify what PDIT budget
[26:05] reductions means.
[26:06] Um the police department um wanted to
[26:09] participate in this part of the process,
[26:12] and we appreciate their willingness to
[26:13] do that, so we moved uh monies from
[26:16] general fund operating into um
[26:20] I think I'm going to say the name right,
[26:22] but federal uh impoundment dollars that
[26:24] we get automatically can only be spent
[26:26] on police things, so we moved cost over
[26:29] into there.
[26:30] Um those are dollars that can't be spent
[26:31] on anything else in the budget. You you
[26:33] you you can't lower a tax with it. You
[26:35] can't
[26:36] do a street sweeper with it. It's It's
[26:38] got to be law enforcement, and that was
[26:40] for a system that they need to start
[26:43] integrating with the not only all of
[26:45] their
[26:46] um IT information that integrates, but
[26:49] also with the surrounding jurisdiction.
[26:51] So, we found 91,000 and thank thank
[26:54] folks for looking into that. And we took
[26:56] a long, hard look at IT in general.
[26:59] Um as was noted last week and in
[27:01] conversations that several of us have
[27:03] had over the last week and a half, some
[27:05] things are caught by contract. They take
[27:07] a little while to unwind to find those
[27:09] efficiencies, but I feel like the way
[27:11] we've presented it shows where we can
[27:14] and where we can start to do things. But
[27:16] again, like everything else, we will
[27:18] have future cost and so I I think this
[27:20] board knows that. Travel and training
[27:23] adjustments out of that 419 were about
[27:26] 27,000.
[27:28] Give or take.
[27:29] Uh so uh
[27:31] th- those are the total reductions. So,
[27:33] to put those in context, they look like
[27:36] this.
[27:37] Uh the 419 came out of admin, parks and
[27:40] rec, police department, planning and
[27:42] inspections, human resources,
[27:44] technology, engineering.
[27:46] And then those other the travel and
[27:48] training came out of a lot of them in
[27:50] the PDIT reductions. So, they came from
[27:53] across the board. It took a lot of
[27:55] teamwork to do that and uh we believe
[27:57] that these are reductions that will not
[27:59] reduce our ability to serve and to
[28:02] protect and to um protect our resources
[28:05] that we we do have and and share and
[28:07] enjoy.
[28:09] Um wanted to note also that there's a
[28:11] fund balance and capital strategy in
[28:13] here in the budget.
[28:15] You are paying as you go, which is a a a
[28:19] capital funding process of around
[28:21] 500,000. So, that's the newest dollars
[28:23] in the fiscal year will be spent on uh
[28:26] pay as you go capital.
[28:28] Uh but then also as an expenditure line
[28:31] out in back over into your savings
[28:33] accounts, we've recommended 250,000 for
[28:35] your capital reserve.
[28:38] By By ordinance, this board is supposed
[28:41] to commit X amount of dollars every year
[28:43] and it has
[28:44] um even in this year when the board
[28:46] moved about 1.5 million if you'll recall
[28:49] from unassigned fund balance over into
[28:51] your assigned fund balances.
[28:53] So, um
[28:54] they did you folks did that as a board
[28:56] this year. The second reserve or line
[28:59] item that goes over into savings
[29:00] accounts is for capital outlay reserves.
[29:04] Um
[29:04] capital outlay reserve versus a capital
[29:08] the difference between that is
[29:10] things that are less than $50,000.
[29:12] That's your moving and rolling stock.
[29:14] That's some of your
[29:16] those things under 50,000 or have a
[29:18] one-year payment schedule or one-year
[29:20] contract on them.
[29:23] Um open requirements
[29:25] you know, making sure that paying
[29:27] attention in your budget. We wanted to
[29:28] make sure you knew
[29:30] IT costs do remain elevated. We We
[29:32] recognize that. Some things are just
[29:35] harder to unwind. Three-year contracts,
[29:37] two-year contracts, four-year contracts,
[29:39] and those kinds of things. So,
[29:42] we now that we stack them in the way we
[29:44] have, we feel like we can manage those
[29:46] well. We have great IT team here. And
[29:49] that's really everybody else, too.
[29:51] Everybody's part of that.
[29:53] Sales and use tax shortage. I think
[29:55] that's the other more concerning issue.
[29:58] We've talked about this in our work
[30:00] sessions.
[30:01] It is a shortfall in the current fiscal
[30:03] year. So, I have budgeted very
[30:04] conservatively into next year like with
[30:07] no growth whatsoever.
[30:09] Um
[30:10] We continue to watch that.
[30:12] That is a concerning sign.
[30:14] Um
[30:16] Next is attorney fee governance. We've
[30:18] just pulled it back to an amount that we
[30:21] feel we can manage. And we've put a
[30:23] pre-approval requirement instituted by
[30:25] the manager. In other words, filtering
[30:27] through me into the so we can control
[30:29] those costs. It's not that everybody's
[30:31] out of control. It's just we've had a
[30:33] lot to do this year. We want to make
[30:35] sure that we um
[30:37] guard that and make sure we we
[30:39] appreciate
[30:41] Matt's good legal review on all things.
[30:44] We took the facade grant down to 30,000.
[30:49] Part of our strategy between that and
[30:50] abatement issues is to come back to the
[30:53] board when we're beginning if we have a
[30:56] rather large project that requires
[30:57] dollars that might exceed that.
[31:00] So we'll come back to you folks and have
[31:02] a conversation with you about that so
[31:04] that the board can be involved in that
[31:05] decision where it wants to move money
[31:07] from if it wants to do the project are
[31:10] there other opportunities and choices so
[31:12] that the board can be more involved in
[31:13] those processes.
[31:15] But we still have left money in there.
[31:18] So
[31:19] again that net fund balance draw would
[31:22] go to if you keep the rate the same at
[31:23] 29 cents would go to 488 570.
[31:28] So I just want to recap that the board's
[31:31] direction was for those reductions 5% we
[31:34] found those.
[31:35] We focused on IT and travel. I think
[31:38] those were good calls by the board. You
[31:39] saw those things and our staff did a
[31:41] good job of bringing those back.
[31:43] And
[31:45] we addressed that fund balance drawdown.
[31:48] The process we conducted a full
[31:50] Department by Department review.
[31:53] This is what the staff was doing Finance
[31:55] coordinated consolidation of all
[31:57] operational PDIT and travel cut. So
[32:00] Finance is is is is keeping those
[32:02] numbers in the right order. We evaluated
[32:05] uncontrollable cost and capital strategy
[32:07] options. So we had that out loud
[32:09] conversation.
[32:10] And there's our presentation back to you
[32:13] folks. So 511 and cost reduction.
[32:17] A three-part capital plan that does put
[32:20] money back into your reserves and pay as
[32:22] you go. That's a definitely capitalized
[32:24] strategy and then a net fund balance
[32:26] drawdown reduction.
[32:32] Can I answer any questions?
[32:36] >> Any questions?
[32:39] Yeah.
[32:43] » I just like to
[32:44] I say start off by saying thank you
[32:46] again.
[32:47] I know it's not an easy task. Um
[32:50] when a customer comes to you and
[32:52] essentially ask you what to
[32:55] work on a project and then say, "Hey,
[32:57] sharpen your pencil.
[32:58] Take a second look at it."
[33:00] What you all did to investigate, take a
[33:02] second look at it, evaluate what the the
[33:05] stacking of contracts going into working
[33:08] with our department heads.
[33:10] We appreciate and I like to just
[33:12] re-echo. We appreciate the
[33:14] teamwork that the staff has aligned with
[33:17] the this team here on the dais.
[33:20] And we are grateful for that.
[33:22] Um with that said, you've outlined a a
[33:24] lot of the friction points that we
[33:26] mentioned earlier in our conversations
[33:28] and our work sessions and you've
[33:29] addressed those. Those were you know,
[33:31] essentially making sure that we were
[33:33] working together and making sure that we
[33:35] were addressing the end and allowing the
[33:38] public to understand
[33:39] why we were
[33:40] doing a fund balance transfer, how it
[33:42] helped us sequence in those key capital
[33:45] improvement projects that we have been
[33:47] looking to and keep momentum on.
[33:50] Um I'd like to just start off by that.
[33:52] Thank you.
[33:56] » Anyone else?
[33:58] >> Yeah.
[34:00] » Yeah.
[34:00] >> Scott, um
[34:02] » Scott, um
[34:02] for the folks the board of
[34:03] commissioners, we've all it's not just
[34:05] been a couple of days during the week.
[34:06] It's been ongoing phone calls, emails
[34:09] and not just once, but twice, but three
[34:11] times going back and trying to find
[34:13] these additional savings. And I know my
[34:15] fellow board of commissioners, we've
[34:17] drilled it through the audit. It is our
[34:18] job. We're supposed to do that and
[34:20] scrutinize everything we see and decide
[34:23] if it's going to be a scalpel or butcher
[34:24] knife to go through this. And I'm really
[34:27] comfortable with the due diligence that
[34:28] you guys did and coming back and and I
[34:30] think the town is going to be extremely
[34:32] appreciative of the effort put forth by
[34:34] all you folks and yourself Mr. Manager.
[34:37] I appreciate you.
[34:38] >> You're welcome.
[34:38] » You're welcome.
[34:38] >> Thank you.
[34:41] » Anyone else on the board?
[34:44] >> Well, you guys said plenty.
[34:46] » Well, you guys said plenty.
[34:46] I I thank everybody for their efforts
[34:48] and um
[34:50] I had a lot of questions. You guys
[34:54] were very patient and you're generous
[34:56] with your time and
[34:58] um appreciated the
[35:00] you walking us through the process being
[35:02] our first budget and all that for some
[35:04] of us. So,
[35:06] uh I think we're in a good place and I
[35:08] Can you Can you discuss the financial uh
[35:13] like the cash cash position of our fund
[35:16] balance
[35:17] in in regards to what's a healthy fund
[35:21] balance and maybe how much more we have
[35:24] than than
[35:26] comparatively speaking to other
[35:28] municipalities
[35:29] >> Sure.
[35:29] » Sure.
[35:29] >> in terms of percentages.
[35:31] » in terms of percentages.
[35:31] >> Sure. We you have a an unassigned fund
[35:34] » Sure. We you have a an unassigned fund
[35:34] balance at this point time of around 29
[35:36] million. Now, that number will go down.
[35:39] We've had this discussion before.
[35:41] Um
[35:42] by state statute, we have a
[35:44] stabilization amount within that.
[35:47] We have that. That's marked.
[35:49] Um within that, you want around 40% for
[35:53] an organization like us because we do
[35:56] not have monthly cash flow. It could go
[35:59] a bit lower than that because
[36:02] if you had a utility. So, for example,
[36:04] if I had a water and sewer company, we'd
[36:06] have cash flow coming in. That cash flow
[36:09] offsets the need
[36:10] to carry so much cash.
[36:13] So, you can invest it more.
[36:15] Um you have in your fund balance in
[36:18] addition to the 29 million,
[36:21] you have another
[36:25] 14 15 million dollars that is reserved.
[36:28] So, of the CIP, some of that money is
[36:31] coming forward for those projects. You
[36:33] the boards have been very specific about
[36:35] assigning them to projects
[36:37] across time. So, those are monies in
[36:41] addition. So, your total cash balance as
[36:43] of the end of April was around 46
[36:46] million. That will draw down, that will
[36:48] change over the time of the year.
[36:51] Our operating control line is around 5
[36:54] million is what we like to have. The
[36:57] rest is invested. So, we try to invest.
[37:01] Matter of fact, in the current fiscal
[37:03] year, we've been fortunate that
[37:06] Rosie and her team in finance have done
[37:08] a great job of their investment strategy
[37:11] and your interest rate that you've
[37:13] gotten back in returns is
[37:16] exceeded by about 40% or so. So, almost
[37:19] a million dollars plus where we budgeted
[37:22] around 600. So, they did a good job of
[37:24] investing the public's monies and making
[37:27] sure that they got returned into
[37:31] the operating cost of running the
[37:33] organization. Appreciate that. So, what
[37:36] you need is around 40%. So, 40% of 26
[37:38] million, you know, is around 5, 6
[37:42] million that you would have.
[37:44] The idea behind that is for safety. In
[37:47] other words, if Helene comes through,
[37:49] you have those kinds of operating things
[37:51] so you can operate for about 4 months.
[37:53] We have that.
[37:54] Plus, we have the state statutory
[37:57] reserve amount of an additional 3
[38:00] million. And then, we have additional
[38:02] that has been reserved for projects
[38:04] across the organization. Does that help
[38:07] with your
[38:07] >> Yeah, yeah. It
[38:08] » Yeah, yeah. It
[38:08] helps me. I think it helps the public to
[38:11] understand that, you know, we're pretty
[38:13] financially sound and we are it it and
[38:19] besides that, getting the savings and
[38:22] and
[38:23] digging deeper into the budget to find
[38:25] some of those cost reductions, that just
[38:28] helps keep that cash
[38:30] uh
[38:31] keeps us from having a
[38:33] do something with the tax rate, but uh
[38:37] with the cost [snorts] going up and and
[38:39] that not wanting to go further into fund
[38:43] balance to fund stuff.
[38:45] I think um it it's uh
[38:49] mhm
[38:50] it precludes us from reducing the taxes
[38:52] right now.
[38:54] >> Cost are cost are running up. I think
[38:57] » Cost are cost are running up. I think
[38:57] everyone who runs a household or an
[38:59] organization right now is that you have
[39:00] a lot of rising cost.
[39:02] Some in your control, some are not, but
[39:04] um
[39:05] I appreciate the board's understanding
[39:07] of that and I think they try to be and
[39:09] the department heads and the every
[39:11] employee in this organization tries to
[39:12] be a good steward with your dollars and
[39:14] spend it wisely and within the limits
[39:16] that you folks ask, but also tries to
[39:19] solve the problem. Uh again, um
[39:21] remembering the CIP, we are investing a
[39:24] substantial amount of money as we we
[39:26] have done in the past, but this year
[39:28] especially about 5.9 million.
[39:31] >> Thank you.
[39:33] » Thank you.
[39:33] >> Madam Mayor, it is a public hearing, so
[39:35] » Madam Mayor, it is a public hearing, so
[39:35] I want to make sure I don't take up too
[39:36] much time if people have comments or
[39:38] anything else.
[39:40] >> I
[39:40] » I
[39:40] think we're good. Thank you.
[39:44] So, at this time I'd like to open the
[39:45] floor for public comments. I don't have
[39:47] anyone who's signed up this evening, but
[39:49] if there's anyone here that would like
[39:50] to make a public comment, I'd like to
[39:52] give you an opportunity.
[39:56] Okay.
[39:58] Nobody?
[39:59] It's not too bad. It's not scary at all.
[40:03] But okay, well
[40:04] hearing uh
[40:06] no one being interested in
[40:07] >> Well, we appreciate the folks that
[40:09] » Well, we appreciate the folks that
[40:09] showed up and who are watching online
[40:11] that actually take an interest in this
[40:13] process as well.
[40:15] Um
[40:15] thank you for
[40:17] taking part.
[40:18] >> All right, so um I guess
[40:21] » All right, so um I guess
[40:21] Do you have anything else, anyone? Okay.
[40:24] Can I have a motion to close the public
[40:25] hearing?
[40:26] >> Motion to
[40:27] » Motion to
[40:27] close the public hearing.
[40:30] >> All in favor?
[40:31] » All in favor?
[40:31] >> I.
[40:33] » I.
[40:33] >> All right, the eyes have it. This public
[40:35] » All right, the eyes have it. This public
[40:35] hearing is closed.
[40:37] Uh, looking ahead, we have a Board of
[40:39] Commissioners meeting, a regular meeting
[40:41] on June 9th, 2026 at 6:30 right here in
[40:44] Town Hall. And if there's nothing else,
[40:48] can I have a motion to adjourn?
[40:50] >> Motion to adjourn.
[40:53] » Motion to adjourn.
[40:53] >> All in favor?
[40:54] » All in favor?
[40:54] >> I.
[40:57] » Adjourned.
[40:57] >> I.
[40:58] » I.
[40:58] >> We are adjourned.
[40:59] » We are adjourned.
[40:59] >> Thank you.
[41:00] » Thank you.
[41:00] >> Close the public hearing.