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Board of Commissioners — Day 2 and 3 Cancelled

Chatham County · Board of Commissioners
Thursday, May 22, 2025 at 9:00 am · Agriculture Conference Center

Cancelled Regular meeting Budget and appropriationsBonds and debtDEI programsEconomic development incentivesElections and districtsFees and utility ratesFire and EMSHealth and human servicesParks and recreationSolid waste and recyclingTax rate and revaluation

Agenda document Minutes Meeting page Watch Meeting recap

What's on this agenda

Chatham County's commissioners spent 22 May 2025 going through the recommended 2026 budget department by department, and finished in one day. The two remaining days of the scheduled three-day work session were cancelled.

Staff walked the board through fee and rate changes, the general fund's revenue and expenses, the enterprise and special revenue funds, and the fire district tax rates.

Summarized from the published agenda. Read the agenda itself before acting on it.

Meeting recap

What happened, drawn from the records published after the meeting. Minutes

Four commissioners attended, Robertson absent, and the session ran from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Two decisions came out of it. The board agreed by consensus to add the election coordinator position the Board of Elections had asked for and the county's review process had not recommended, knowing it puts the budget out of balance and that staff would come back with revenue to match. It is the position half a dozen residents had asked for at the Siler City budget hearing two days earlier. The board also agreed that commissioners' special pay should apply when there are more than two meetings in a month.

On non-profits, the board worked through $528,000 in allocations and said plainly that rating one service against another is hard. The manager reported that talks with United Way about handing the non-profit process over are on hold while United Way works through staff changes, and the board agreed to keep talking and fund this year itself. Staff also proposed reframing the language of the county's equity work, using people first rather than diversity, opportunity rather than equity, and collaboration rather than inclusion.

The board kept the 4 percent increase already built in for the officials whose salaries it sets: the county manager, register of deeds, sheriff, elections director, and the commissioners themselves. It asked for revaluation figures broken out by home value, and discussed land acquisition along the Haw River, the capital plan, the debt contribution, the Wolfspeed incentives, fund balance and borrowing rates. Its conclusion was that the budget is responsible in the circumstances.

How the votes went

The agenda was approved 4-0 with Commissioner Robertson absent, and the session adjourned by the same vote. The budget decisions were reached by consensus rather than by roll call.

From the published minutes.

Speaking at this meeting

Chatham County's own rules for public comment — check them before you rely on anything here.

Agenda items (10)

Procedural · 5Other · 4Discussion item · 1
  1. 3 Day Budget Work Session - May 22, May 23, and May 28, 2025 (Note: All 3 days may not be held)
    Procedural Budget and appropriations
  2. CALL TO ORDER
    Procedural
  3. ADJUSTMENTS AND APPROVAL OF REGULAR SESSION AGENDA
    Procedural
    approved · Pass · A motion was made by Vice Chair Katie Kenlan, seconded by Commissioner Franklin Gomez Flores, that the agenda was approved. The motion carried by the following vote:
  4. BOARD PRIORITIES
    Procedural
  5. 25-0257 Introduction
    Other Budget and appropriations
    The county manager opened the session and the assistant manager presented expected conditions, the capital improvement plan and the guidance from the board's retreat.
  6. 25-0258 General Fund Revenue and Fee/Rate Changes
    Other Budget and appropriationsFees and utility ratesTax rate and revaluation
    New and increased fees in planning, aging services, solid waste and recycling, building inspection and the register of deeds, plus the occupancy tax, excise tax, sales tax, transfers and the proposed property tax rate.
  7. 25-0259 General Fund Expense
    Other Budget and appropriationsDEI programsElections and districtsHealth and human services
    Department-by-department expenses. The board agreed by consensus to add the election coordinator position that had not been recommended, and that commissioners' special pay should apply when a month has more than two meetings. The nonprofit allocations totalled $528,000, and staff proposed reframing the language of the county's equity work.
  8. 25-0260 Other Funds
    Other Budget and appropriationsFire and EMSSolid waste and recycling
    The enterprise fund, solid waste and recycling, the fire district tax rates and the special revenue funds.
  9. 25-0261 Discussion
    Discussion item Bonds and debtBudget and appropriationsEconomic development incentivesParks and recreation
    Next steps, revised nonprofit funding, the 4 percent increase for the officials whose pay the board sets, revaluation figures by home value, land acquisition along the Haw River, the capital plan, the debt contribution, the Wolfspeed incentives and the borrowing rate.
  10. ADJOURNMENT
    Procedural
    adjourned · Pass · A motion was made by Vice Chair Katie Kenlan, seconded by Commissioner Franklin Gomez Flores, that the budget work session was adjourned. The motion carried by the following vote:

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