County of Gaston issued the following announcement on May 24.
In the midst of the most significant inflationary pressures our country has seen in decades, the Gaston County Board of Commissioners approved a two-cent decrease to the property tax rate in a 5-2 vote on Tuesday night.
The approved budget lowers the property tax rate level to 81 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. That rate is now the lowest in Gaston County since 1996. Gaston County already has a median tax bill lower than in Mecklenburg, Union and Cabarrus counties and nearly the same as other similarly sized counties in North Carolina, such as Guilford, New Hanover and Buncombe.
Residents are seeing 8.5 percent inflation that affects everything from groceries to gas, and those same pressures are affecting county government. Yet, the county is absorbing the cost of inflation, while providing a tax cut to residents.
“We wanted to strike an appropriate balance between providing financial relief to residents and ensuring we are properly funding the services our county government provides that so many of our residents depend upon,” Board of Commissioners Chairman Chad Brown (R-Riverbend Township) said.
For the second consecutive year, the budget is balanced without the use of fund balance. Fund balance is essentially a county’s savings account, and having a healthy balance is critical for being prepared to endure an economic crisis like a recession, or take advantage of economic opportunities to bring jobs to the county, such as with the county’s investment in the Apple Creek Corporate Center. Improving and preserving the county’s fund balance was critical for helping the County to recently receive a bond upgrade rating from Moody’s Investors Service.
“This was not an easy process, given the continually increasing needs for service in our county and the pressures of rising inflation,” County Manager Dr. Kim Eagle said. “Our employees are ready to do even more to respond to the growth ahead, as Gaston County continues to grow in stature as one of our state’s premier locations to live and work.”
The only new positions in the budget are those entirely supported by fees. However, the commissioners approved a 6% merit pool for employees to help offset some of the inflationary pressure being felt by county employees, who provide critical services to Gaston County’s most vulnerable every day. The merit-based pay plan, which was implemented two years ago at the direction of the Board, has already paid dividends, with the county seeing a decrease in its turnover rate in the last year.
The budget also provides for partial spending on the first year of a 5-year Capital Improvement Plan. The CIP was assembled to identify and prioritize the top capital needs of the county. Projects included as part of that plan include the construction of a public safety fueling facility and expansion work on the county’s new fleet maintenance facility along Long Avenue in Gastonia. That also includes increased funding for Gaston College and Gaston Public Schools for capital needs as well as operating expense increases.
Original source can be found here.
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