Firefighters, teachers and concerned citizens of Alamance County packed the historical courthouse in Graham during the County Commissioners meeting June 2 to voice their opinions about the proposed county budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year.
County manager Heidi York presented the proposed budget outline for the county during the County Commissioners meeting May 19. The proposed budget included raising the county property tax rate by 1.59 cents; closing library branches of Graham, Mebane and North Park; cutting the budget for the Alamance Burlington School System by 19.7%; and cutting funding for emergency and rescue services in the county. Emergency and rescue services include emergency response teams like local police, fire departments and emergency medical services.
According to the proposed budget, the main goal was to keep property tax increases as low as possible.
Prior to public comment, the county commissioners spoke about the proposed budget. Commissioner Ed Priola said that the proposed budget, such as the potential closing of libraries across the county, is not set in stone.
“What we did discuss was whether some libraries could be supported by the towns they're in. Not closing what we're looking for were options, not closing libraries, but options, ” Priola said.
Commissioner Pamela Tyler Thompson said that the county commissioners are making sure that they have the resources to run Alamance County.
“We have to make sure we have the things that we need that run this county,” Tyler Thompson said. “We cannot Band-Aid things.”
Over 40 citizens of Alamance County spoke during public comment and expressed their concerns about the cuts within the proposed budget. While the proposed budget’s goal was to keep the tax rate increase as low as possible, Reagan Gural, president and CEO of the Alamance Chamber, encouraged the county commissioners to increase the tax rate to invest more in the county.
“While a low tax rate may sound appealing, if it prevents us from making essential investments, are we truly serving the best interests of our citizens and our businesses?” Gural said. “We must make decisions that do not place our community at a disadvantage compared to others in the region.”
Chief of Alamance County Rescue Units Chris Mauney asked the County Commissioners to reassess the cuts to emergency and rescue services.
“Commissioners at this moment to this time, to reaffirm that the safety of Alamance County remains a shared property,” Mauney said. “That when the citizens are at their worst moment, the county is at their best, you continue funding us and to allow us to bridge that gap and to the citizens of Alamance County, we ask you to stand with us.”
Brody Cameron, an 18-year-old volunteer firefighter from Alamance County, said that emergency services and rescue services are struggling to keep staffed in the county.
“I heard from paramedics and EMTs alike, they were both unhappy with the compensation they were receiving and that they were unhappy with the treatment they were receiving,” Cameron said. “As one of them put it, ‘You can't be treated like that, can't pay like that.’ We simply go to Guilford County or Wake County and receive $8 more an hour to be a paramedic. You cannot blame them for leaving.”
Chair of the Alamance Burlington School System’s Board of Education Sandy Ellington-Graves said that she and the rest of the ABSS Board of Education were disappointed with the cuts to the ABSS budget. Ellington-Graves also said that the school system should be on par with the rest of the county in terms of development.
“Our county is strong,” Ellington-Graves said. “And our public schools should reflect that.”
According to Ellington-Graves, Alamance County is the 15th largest county in North Carolina, ABSS is the 14th largest school district in North Carolina, and the county’s property tax value is almost $21 billion.
In addition to Ellington-Graves, students from ABSS also spoke. Avery Picard, who is currently a senior at Western Alamance High School, said ABSS schools need all the funding the Board of Education asked for.
“You may not have been in our schools lately to still see the buckets in the halls catching the leaking water from the roof, but your students have to deal with it,” Picard said. “As someone who has directly benefited from the dedication of our educators and the resources made available to me, I know firsthand how vital proper funding is to student success.”
Sawyer Jones, a junior at Walter Williams High School, asked the County Commissioners to use their power to fund ABSS.
“The Board of Education simply can't give money to keep important jobs if there's no money to give in the first place,” Jones said. “Without the support for the budget that ABSS has proposed, their hands are tied and it's students like me who suffer.”
Alamance County resident Walter Allison said the proposed budget is out of line and the County Commissioners should not be making the cuts the budget proposes.
“I’ve been to a lot of County Commissioners meetings,” Allison said. “You open them up and you pray, P, R, A, Y, and then you turn around with your funding, and you prey, P, R, E, Y, on the least of us. Our children need funding for the schools, and you need to start not only just praying, but I believe that you need to start asking for forgiveness when you pray.”
Following the meeting, Commissioner Priola delivered a presentation to the rest of the County Commissioners illustrating trends in county spending. Priola said during the meeting that he came up with his own budget proposal that has a 0% tax rate increase, which will be shown during the next work session June 9.
The County Commission will have two work sessions June 9 and 10 to make any changes to the proposed budget. The budget will be adopted during the June 16 meeting.