by Brian Walker
The Macon County Board of Commissioners held their continued session on May 23, 2023. During this session, Derek Roland (County Manager) presented the proposed budget for Macon County Fiscal Year (FY) 23-24 of $64,566,978.
Mr. Roland began his presentation by highlighting several FY22-23 budget accomplishments – and recognized the tremendous efforts of everyone who assisted in preparing the current budget proposal. The proposed FY23-24 budget is an increase of $5,519,865 (9.35%) over the FY22-23 budget of $59,047,113. $31,953,200 of the proposed budget (49%) provides for the salary and benefits of 584 Macon County employees.
The proposed budget reflects a spike in recent population and economic growth in our area. During his presentation, Mr. Roland stated, “Sales tax is another primary revenue source. Ad valorem tax collections account for 53% of revenue in our General Fund Budget – Sales Tax accounts for 22% of it.” He further stated, “Year to date, thru February, sales tax [revenue] is up 15%.” Mr. Roland also mentioned the balance in the General Fund is at $42.4M.
Many property owners were concerned about the recent 2023 Property Tax Revaluations. The good news, according to Mr. Roland, is that “If your property value went up around the average, you’re either going to see a tax decrease or you might see a slight tax increase.” As a result, The FY23-24 budget proposal decreases the ad valorem tax rate – currently 40 cents per $100 of assessed property value – to 27 cents per $100 of assessed property value.
In preparation for the upcoming budget work session, Commissioner John Shearl asked for a list of the “much needed repairs” of Macon County structures. He identified the Zachary Park building as one such example of a building which, according to Mr. Shearl “hasn’t been maintained since it was built 20 years ago.” “We just need to, in my opinion, get a list of these things and start taking care of these buildings and properties that the taxpayers of this county has built and paid for – they are in desperate need of maintenance.” Mr. Shearl continued, “It is very disheartening to spend taxpayer’s money and let these buildings go down.” Mr. Roland responded, “Maintenance does a great job keeping these buildings maintained. Now there might be a few circumstances where we need some work on some buildings – but overall, the average county building is over 40 years old.” Mr. Shearl concluded, “This is the people’s government, this is the people’s county, and we must take care of the people's assets.”
The Macon County Commissioners have scheduled a Budget Work Session for Tuesday, May 30, 2023, beginning at 3 pm – which is open to the public. There will also be a Macon County FY23-24 Budget public meeting on June 13th.
You can download the FY23-24 Proposed Budget HERE.
The full Macon County Board of Commissioners meeting is available HERE.