The Moore County Budget Task Force discussed the FY 2026 budget and will investigate eliminating 11 full-time county positions and investigate how the Moore County Airport used $50,000 in support management.
County Commissioner Vice Chair Nick Picerno asked for an investigation on eliminating one position in aging, three in health, one in planning, and six in social services.
“Maybe some could transition to other positions,” Picerno said at the budget meeting on Feb.12.
Picerno later said on Feb. 18 that the “review of potential job cuts comes from the data that shows that these positions have not been filled from July through January.”
The county paid Moore County Airport $50,000 in support management for FY 2025, and the budget task force said it had not received a list of how the funds were used.
“I want to see what we got for our fifty [thousand], or we may go to zero,” Picerno said, adding that he wanted the public to have a say about what terms need to be in the next contract with the airport.
The budget task force reviewed retirement contributions.
Currently, the county contributes 13.64% in retirement funds and is considering an increase to 14.39%, which is a ¾% increase for employees not in law enforcement.
Law enforcement may receive an increase of slightly over 1% in retirement funds.
The rate for on-call pay for social services, IT, property management, animal services, law enforcement, utilities, and waste water has not increased since 1997, so the budget task force will review doubling the current rate and add the departments to the Cost-of-Living-Adjustment (COLA) rate’s annual increases.
Since 1997, on-call rates for employees for the seven departments listed above have been $10 more an hour for Monday through Thursday, $20 for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and $30 for federal holidays.
“It’s all about having people to deliver quality services,” County Manager Wayne Vest said about COLA increases and employee retention.
Sheriff Ronnie Fields said he appreciated the one-time COLA increase last year and appreciated the board’s help because pay incentives drive more qualified applicants to job opportunities.
Picerno said he recommended a one-time COLA payment increase.
The current property tax rate is 0.4350 per $100 of valuation, and the budget task force recommends a penny and a half decrease.
At the March 4 meeting, the budget task force will review two health insurance contracts.
The county has used First Carolina Care since 2013, and employees within the budget task force expressed appreciation for the low deductibles at $1,500, and convenient and individualized care at the First Health Wellness Center.
The estimated proposal for First Carolina Care was $15 million.
Blue Cross Blue Shield’s estimated proposal was $13 million.
The budget task force will review the above topics at the March 4 budget work session at 1 p.m.
Feature photo: Around the table, beginning with the left, Tax Administrator Gary Briggs, Moore County Commissioner Vice-Chair Nick Picerno, Budget Manager and Internal Auditor Kris Klug, Budget and Audit Director Tammy Golden, Clerk Jenny Parks, Assistant Town Manager Dawn Gilbert, Assistant Town Manager Laura Williams, and Commissioner Chair Kurt Cook as they review the FY 2026 budget on Feb. 12, 2025, at the Carthage Courthouse.
~Article and photo by Sandhills Sentinel journalist Stephanie M. Sellers. Stephanie is also an English instructor at Central Carolina Community College. She is the author of young adult fiction, including When the Yellow Slugs Sing and Sky’s River Stone, and a suspense, GUTTERSNIPE: Shakespearean English Stage Play with Translation, and a new upcoming release published by Golden Storyline Books, a science fiction, Amagi.
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