By Catherine M. Welch
Wilmington, NC – The New Hanover County recommended budget for the next fiscal year was rolled out to county commissioners yesterday.
The budget calls for funding 31 new county jobs including 11 for the Sheriff's Department and five for the Department of Social Services. It also puts a $10.1 million dollar price tag for Medicaid.
To pay for these expenses County manager Bruce Shell is calling for raising the tax rate from the revenue neutral rate of 40-cents per $100 of valuation to 42.75-cents.
A lot of things I've cut out, cut a lot of things out of the budget and I'm sure there are folks that would rather I kept them in
The budget does include an additional $5.8 million for county schools and $2.3 million for the Southeastern Center for Mental Health.
County Commissioners will hold a public hearing on the budget on June 4th.
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