Meeting Tuesday morning, May 23, in special called session, the Mount Olive Town Board took the wraps off a proposed $4.7 million general fund budget that, for the time being, includes a tax increase of 7 cents per $100 of property value.

If approved as presented, it would be the second year in a row that the tax rate has increased. It was increased by 3 cents, from 64 to 67 cents per $100 of property value, in the current budget.

Under the current proposal, the tax rate would climb from 67 cents to 74 cents per $100 of property value — a 10-cent increase over a two-year period.

The 74-cent rate would be close to Wayne County’s 74.25 cent tax rate. The county’s 2023-24 budget proposal does not increase the county property tax rate.

The town’s tax rate increase would equate to an additional $35 on the tax bill for a $50,000 house or an additional $70 on a $100,000 house.

The fiscal plan also includes a 2.5 percernt across-the-board pay hike for all eligible town employees and $70,000 for a new video camera surveillance system.And while not part of the proposal, commissioners have discussed increasing water/sewer rates — something that can be done at anytime during the year.

As of the Tuesday morning session, the proposal was still missing some key, and potentially expensive, ingredients including how much health insurance will cost the town in the coming year.

The town is in the process of receiving health insurance proposals from different companies. Also still to be decided is whether the final budget will increase the cost of cemetery plots.

Commissioners will continue fine-tuning the proposal during a budget work session that will start at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 1, in the town hall conference room, 114 E. James St. The session is open to the public.

A copy of the proposed budget for the fiscal year, beginning July 1, 2023 and ending June 30, 2024, is on file in the offices of Town Clerk Sherry Davis and Town Manager Jammie Royall and on the town’s website, www.townofmountolivenc.org.

The budget proposal is available for public inspection during normal business hours until the budget ordinance is adopted.

A public hearing on the proposal will be held during the board’s Tuesday, June 13, session. The meeting will start at 7 p.m. in the Mount Olive Municipal Courtroom, 114 E. James St.

The board can approve the budget at anytime following the public hearing, including that night.

The current budget includes a $4.41 million general fund and a $3.685 million water/sewer fund. The proposed budget’s $4.7 million general fund and $3.708 million water/sewer fund represents less than a 1 percent increase over the current budget funds, town Finance Director Jamie Butler said.

Mayor Kenny Talton told the board he favors a more incremental approach, voicing concerns about the size of the increase, especially in light of other increasing consumer costs.

“I have made this known to several board members — the tax rate increase of 7 cents, I know it was 3 cents when we increased taxes lat year,” Talton said. “I favor a more incremental approach. I know it needs to be done.

“I’m just concerned that the taxpayers are going to absorb county increases, town increase, utility rate increases and who knows what else in regards to our economy. We don’t know what direction it might be going in. Don’t know if groceries will continue to rise. Mortgage rates continue to rise. It is just very uncertain.”

That is why, Talton said, that he has concerns about any tax increases.

With that said, the mayor added that he wanted to look after taxpayers and the town’s hard-working employees that he does not want the town to lose.

Talton, who has missed several meetings in recent weeks because of illness, said he knows the board has worked hard in his absence to develop a balanced budget.

“I encourage you to continue to work hard to see if there are any other ways that we can reduce spending to achieve the level of service we need for this town,” he said. “We have been behind a long time. We have gotten our tax rate to what it should have been, and we have had commissioners to come back and set us back 10 cents before, and that has really hurt us.

“I don’t want to ever see that again, but I favor an incremental approach and nothing that is going to be too deep pocketed for our taxpayers.”

Talton said that,as Town Attorney Carroll Turner noted earlier in the meeting, taxes are relative depending on ad valorem taxes and the value of a person’s property.

The town has needs and a level of service that needs to be provided, he said. In order to do so, increases will be needed — something that people must accept and move forward, he added.

Commissioner Delreese Simmons, who has spoken in favor of a tax increase, said prior to last year the tax rate had not been increased in years.

“So we got behind the eight ball, a long way” he said. “This will help the town. The employees need it, too, because our employees are working two jobs, three jobs. Our police department, they need it. Everybody needs it.

“The town needs it. The roads need it. If there are people who cannot afford it, they can apply for assistance with the tax department, of Wayne County. Is that correct? “

If a person’s income is under a threshold, they can get tax relief with Wayne County, so there is something out there that can help people, he continued.

There are three such tax-relief programs for the elderly and totally and permanently disabled, according to the Wayne County government website. One of the three is for disabled honorably discharged veterans only.

For more information on the programs visit https://www.waynegov.com/469/Property-Tax-Relief-Programs.

Turner explained that one of the reasons the town had been able to keep from increasing taxes was because of Walmart.

“When they came here that tremendously increased our tax base and generated, I think, about $60,000, $70,000, $80,000 in additional tax revenues for the town which, as you can see, sort of tided you through a period of time in which you didn’t have to adjust your taxes,” he said.

“Sometimes we talk about so many years (without a tax increase) that I just wanted to point that out.”

Talton noted that the county property revaluation will be conducted next year.

According to the Wayne County Tax Department website, “Revaluation is the process of valuing all real property at its current market value. ‘Market value’ is the price, estimated in terms of money, at which the property would change hands between a willing and financially able buyer and a willing seller, neither being under any compulsion to buy or sell, and both having reasonable knowledge of all the uses to which the property is adapted and for which it is capable of being used.”

North Carolina law requires each county to complete a property revaluation at least once every eight years. The primary purpose of a revaluation is to make sure all properties are valued or assessed equitably.

Talton said he was curious as to how the market is going to affect property values.

Butler said that when she had spoken to Wayne County Tax Administrator Alan Lumpkin to check on tax numbers that he said the market is stable.

“That was all he said,” she added.

Talton said he wondered if it would a good idea to contact Lumpkin to see if he could put a “guesstimate” on any possible increase the town could see as a result of revaluation.

Butler said she would contact Lumpkin to see if he could prepare some information or possibly be available by phone at the June 1 budget work session should commissioners have any questions.