Nikolai Mather: So my first question for you is, with this iteration, this year's budget, what do you consider to be some of the high points?
Steve Stone: Well, we are able in this recommended budget to keep our tax rate consistent at 34.2 cents. We have a pretty strong package for employees with a 3% market adjustment for everyone who meets expectations, and then people will be able to get merit pay between one and three quarters and three and three quarters percent. We're keeping all our employee benefits, and we think we have the training and other resource needs to support our staff. We're proposing to add 51 positions, 42 in our governmental services and nine in our water and sewer enterprise funds. We're increasing the funding for Brunswick County schools by just under 9% – we just executed a new four year funding agreement with them. We're increasing funding for Brunswick Community College by just over 7%. Our nonprofit senior partner, Brunswick Senior Resources, we're increasing by about 8%. Our population growth is phenomenal. It looks like we're somewhere in the neighborhood to 7,000 to 8,000 net in migration per year now.
NM: So something that we've been hearing a lot from our listeners recently is they're interested to know how this budget is going to change or improve emergency services here in Brunswick County. I mean, just in the past fiscal year alone, we've had the Potential Tropical Cyclone Number Eight. We had this fire in Boiling Spring Lakes. What sort of impacts do you think this budget is going to have on emergency management in Brunswick County?
SS: Well, we are adding both ambulances and paramedic crews. We are working on a new system to provide more funding for the fire departments in the county. That'll be something we probably won't be able to implement until another fiscal year, but we're enhancing the emergency management staff, putting another planning position in there, and we're planning for new resources. And in fact, the Health and Human Services building that's currently under design is planned to have a new state of the art Emergency Operations Center. And again, that's a future project, but that will help us support emergency services in the future.
NM: Yeah, absolutely. So tell me a little bit more, too, about this 9% increase that you're giving to Brunswick County Schools. What do you anticipate that money is going to go towards?
SS: Well, it's really largely up to them. The way our funding agreement is structured, they get 36.5% of our ad valorem tax revenues, minus any debt service for the schools. And then, in general, they can spend it where they need it. You know, the state funding they receive is pretty targeted to specific areas. So for the most part, they can use our funding where they need to fill in the gaps where the state funding isn't adequate.
NM: A question that a listener posed to me – she was interested to know if that's going to potentially translate to raises for teachers in BCS.
SS: We do not manage the schools.
NM: Right.
SS: I think it is logical to assume that additional funding from a local government may assist them in those local teacher supplements. But somebody at the Board of Education would have to tell you how much of a direct correlation there is there.
NM: How has the commission and the public received this proposal so far?
SS: The Board of Commissioners are not, you know, in totally unanimous support at this point, I don't think. But in general, the fact that the board declined to schedule another budget workshop indicates that overall, that they're pleased with both what we've proposed to do with the funds and the fact that we're able to propose to keep the property tax rate steady.
NM: That was county manager for Brunswick County Steve Stone. Steve, thank you so much for joining us.
SS: Thank you.
Brunswick County will hold a budget hearing on Monday, June 2nd at 3 p.m. Click here for more information on the county budget proposal.
