Lenoir County commissioners approve $105 million budget after tax rate, transit debate

The Lenoir County Board of Commissioners approved a $105.1 million fiscal year 2026-27 budget Monday after a divided debate over the property tax rate, public transportation funding and whether the county should reduce the tax burden following revaluation.

The budget maintains the county’s existing property tax rate and includes more than $3 million in employee compensation adjustments, roughly half of which County Manager Michael James said goes toward public safety classifications.

The final budget also includes additional funding for Lenoir County Public Schools, including an increase in the school system’s recommended operating allocation from $10.6 million to $11 million. James said the increase would not change the tax rate and would be balanced through additional fund balance appropriation.

The budget passed 4-3, with Commissioners Linda Rouse Sutton, June Cummings, Preston Harris and Cleveland Lovick voting in favor. Commissioners J. Mac Daughety, Eric Rouse and Keith King voted against it.

James said the spending plan reflects the board’s strategic priorities and long-term planning.

“It keeps our focus where you consistently placed it,” James said. “It supports our employees, delivers high-quality services, and prepares for long-term capital needs and economic development opportunities.”

The vote came after commissioners considered proposals to reduce the tax rate by 1 cent and 2 cents.

Daughety first moved to approve the budget with a 1-cent reduction in the tax rate. The motion died for lack of a second.

Rouse then raised concerns about the county’s public transportation system, saying transit is no longer operating as a self-supporting enterprise fund.

“The public transportation system has always been a source of pride for this board that it was not on the backs of the taxpayers,” Rouse said. “Now we’re looking at a situation where it’s not funding itself, it’s not covering its operating budget, it’s no longer an enterprise fund, and that puts it squarely on the shoulders of the taxpayer to keep it going.”

Rouse said if the county funds the system through the budget, it will likely become an ongoing obligation.

“If we fund it now, we’ll never come back from it,” Rouse said. “It will always be something that has to be funded from now on moving forward.”

Rouse said he supported a 2-cent reduction in the tax rate and believed the county’s fund balance could absorb the change.

“We can do a one cent, but we need to do a two cent because Lenoir County is suffering,” Rouse said. “All our taxpayers are suffering. They got hit with a rather large increase that I personally think was unfair and is a burden to everyone who has to pay for it.”

Rouse said transportation was one area he would consider cutting if the county reduced the tax rate.

“You asked what would I cut out? That would be one of them,” Rouse said. “If that program can’t support itself, then we don’t need to be throwing money at it and watching it grow and become bigger than what it already is.”

Cummings objected to that approach, saying transit provides needed service for residents who rely on transportation for medical appointments and access to work.

“Knowing the value of the transit system for so many Lenoir County citizens, the number of rides that are needed, particularly for medical appointments, and they have become priority,” Cummings said.

Cummings said county officials had discussed working with industry to support transportation because workers need reliable ways to get to jobs.

“It will affect the capacity of our manufacturing plants to be able to hire because they won’t have people who can get to work,” Cummings said.

She said the county is already looking at partnerships and ways to increase revenue.

“So we’re working on it already, but to do away with it, let’s just hope you don’t have family members who are getting dialysis and you’re going to have to take off work to take them,” Cummings said.

King said he was not in favor of eliminating transit but shared concerns about the cost shifting to taxpayers. He said the increased funding for transportation equaled about a half-cent of revenue.

“I agree with Commissioner Rouse, the concern of once the money is given, the next year will be more and the next year will be more,” King said.

King said he had been willing to support a 1-cent reduction as a compromise and said James had assured him the county would take a deeper look at transit operations after the new fiscal year begins.

“The county manager has assured me that as soon as the new year starts, there’s going to be a deep dive into transportation to try to get that thing back to an enterprise fund standalone,” King said.

Sutton said she was concerned about reducing the budget without identifying specific cuts. She said commissioners should not place the responsibility solely on James to “make it work.”

“I don’t have a problem with saying reduce something, but I do have a problem with us not standing up and being leaders and telling him what you want reduced,” Sutton said.

Sutton also addressed discussions that took place before the meeting about a possible compromise. She said she had met with Daughety, James and Assistant County Manager Adam Short, but told them she could not commit on behalf of the board.

“I said, I only have one vote and I will not commit to that,” Sutton said.

Sutton said she later saw a Facebook post stating a compromise had been reached.

“Well, before I could get home, it was on Facebook that a compromise had been met,” Sutton said. “Here it is evidently there’s been a decision made and I haven’t even talked to people. And I just don’t operate that way.”

Sutton said the county has faced unexpected needs in the past and should be careful before reducing revenue.

“We’ve had so many things that come up that were unexpected, and we’ve got more that are coming,” Sutton said.

Harris said he had been open to a possible 1-cent reduction, but only if the county could be certain it would still be able to handle emergencies.

“I would have been willing to compromise had we been able to say that yes, we can guarantee that we’ll be able to handle emergency situations that are forthcoming,” Harris said.

Harris said additional concerns over transportation changed the discussion.

“Then we come today and then there’s some more caveats of let’s look at the transportation system, which was not a part of our original,” Harris said. “So I’m satisfied with the budget as we have been presented.”

Cummings said she reviewed the budget in detail and supported the recommended tax rate.

“I respect the budget that he and the staff have put together,” Cummings said. “I feel like they have done an excellent job not only taking care of business right now, particularly our law enforcement and first responders to get their salaries where we need them to be. And I’ll go to bat for that every day.”

A motion to approve the budget with a 2-cent tax rate reduction while keeping transit in place failed. After Harris moved to adopt the budget as presented, Rouse moved to amend the motion with a 1-cent tax rate reduction. That amendment also failed.

Commissioners then approved the budget as presented, including the LCPS increase and no reduction in the tax rate.

The budget takes effect July 1.