Mount Olive Mayor Pro-tem Steve Wiggins, left, and Town Attorney Carroll Turner look over a revised budget proposal for the town, one that does not increase the property tax rate. The revised budget proposal was presented Friday, June 9, during a budget work session.
The Mount Olive Town Board is scrapping a proposed property tax hike, and a 2.5 percent across-the-board salary increase for all town employees is being replaced with a one-time $1,500 bonus for each employee in the town’s revised budget proposal for fiscal year 2023-24.
The changes follow three budget workshops, two this past week, held since the board unveiled the fiscal plan during a May 23 special called meeting.
“This (budget) is starting to feel good,” Mayor Pro-tem Steve Wiggins said during the most recent work session held Friday, June 9.
During the first session, held June 1, Mayor Kenny Talton implored the board backtrack on the tax hike.
Talton, who did not attend the Friday session, told the board during a June 1 work session that people are struggling to pay their bills because of increases in gas and grocery prices, among others.
He asked the board to consider an incremental approach to any tax increases by looking at budget cuts possibly including all or part of the video surveillance system, the proposed 2.5 percent across-the-board pay increase and the town’s contributions to other agencies such as the Chamber of Commerce.
The budget proposal initially included a tax increase of 7 cents per $100 of property value.
However, with the changes agreed to during the Friday, June 9, work session, the property tax rate will not increase and will instead remain at 67 cents per $100 of property value if the draft budget is approved as revised.
To help make up for the revenue the tax increase would have generated, the board is proposing to increase the monthly garbage container fee from $18 to $19 per container starting with the July billing.
That increase will bring in an estimated $30,000 in revenue.
The budget also would utilize just under $100,000 in American Rescue funds to cover the cost of the employee bonuses.
Commissioner Barbara Kornegay said she likes the fact that everyone will receive the same amount.
The bonus will be $1,500 net per employee.
Town Manager Jammie Royall had suggested the bonuses be paid in two payments as a way to offer employees money twice a year, said Jamie Butler, town finance officer.
However, the town is changing payroll software in September, she added.
“I would prefer for the payroll to be in one swift payroll and not have to carry over software,” Butler said.
Royall also suggested it be $1,500 net and not $1,500 gross, she added.
The bonus would be paid somewhere around August, she said. Employees would receive their longevity pay toward the end of the year as usual.
Town Attorney Carroll Turner said he had something people really should think about where the $1,500 bonus is concerned.
“I believe if I recall my math, if an employee is making $38,000, if you gave them 3 percent, (pay increase) they would get $1,175. So this will really help the lower-paid employees a great deal — some of them probably as much as what would have been a 3 to 5 percent pay increase.
“I would say I think they are the people who need it the worst.”
The budget also includes salaries for 19 instead of the 18 police officers initially agreed on, Butler said.
Contributions to other agencies remain intact at $19,500.
However, the board did agree to cut the amount budgeted for the video camera surveillance system from $75,000 to $40,000.
Even with the changes, the budget reflects a $30,133 surplus that will go into a contingency find, Butler said.
What the budget does not include at the moment is any change in what the town charges for plots in its two cemeteries — Maplewood and Carver.
The board had discussed an increase, but has not yet made a decision.
Commissioners are scheduled to discuss the possible price increase when they meet Tuesday, June 13.
Also that night, a public hearing will be held on the budget proposal. 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.
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.
