FAIRMONT—The town’s Board of Commissioners held a budget workshop for the upcoming fiscal year on June 4.

Town Manager Jerome Chestnut presented the proposed 2024-2025 fiscal year budget, the total of which is $4,505,873, split across three permanent funds used to develop and invest in the town. Town commissioners were able to ask questions and make requests for items to be addressed in the next workshop on June 11.

Water/Sewer Fund

No rate increase has been proposed this year. The $1,681,613 is the budget allocated to the water and sewer fund.

Sewer and water maintenance workers are proposed to receive a 2.5% cost of living pay raise.

General Fund

The general fund is the portion of the budget that goes to most parts of the city’s development. A total of $2,725,165 is proposed to be allocated to this fund.

The tax rate is not proposed to go up, remaining at $0.73 per hundred-dollar valuation, but there has recently been a reassessment of the value of the properties within the town.

The 2023-2024 fiscal year’s valuation was $106,254,503, while this year’s is $133,762,837. This is a $27,508,334 or 20% increase in the overall value of everything within Fairmont.

The proposed budget also includes a 2.5% increase in cost-of-living pay for town staff. While below the Consumer Price Index (CPI) suggestion of 3.5%, Chestnut said that he has “estimated other expenses to the best of our ability due to the unknown impact of inflation and market conditions.”

The current waste management contract expires at the end of August. Bidding opens next week for a new waste removal company. Chestnut said that sanitation expenses are estimated to go up by 15%.

Powell Bill

The Powell Bill is a fund dedicated to street maintenance and repairs. The current proposal is for $99,095 of the budget to go to the Powell Bill, $30,000 of which will be allocated to repairs. The board has requested assistance from the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) to grade the streets of Fairmont to ensure they prioritize the most urgent projects.

Chestnut said the cost of resurfacing and initial paving has increased with the rise of construction costs, so additional funding for street projects is being sought through grants and general assembly requests.

Other Issues

Commissioner Terry Evans requested that the cost-of-living increase be revisited. He proposed raising the minimum wage for lower-paid employees to 3% if the budget allows, upon reevaluation.

Mayor Charles Kemp stated his plan for the funds given for the development of a new town hall. The funding will be spread across a small area, with auxiliary structures available to the public rather than focusing solely on the main town hall building.

The fire station and police department both need new vehicles for their fleets. Funding discussions for those acquisitions are ongoing.

The public hearing for the 2024-2025 budget will be at 6 p.m. on June 18 in the Fairmont Heritage Center. Residents who are interested in making comments or requests of the Board of Commissioners are encouraged to attend.

The budget workshop schedule, as well as drafts of the proposed budget, can be found on fairmontnc.gov.