ALAMANCE COUNTY, N.C. — Nearly four cents, that's how much property tax will increase for owners in Alamance County starting next month. The increase will help fund Alamance- Burlington School System where leaders admit to facing financial struggles.
WFMY News 2 went around Burlington Tuesday speaking with several residents about the tax increase. Many said they've heard of ABSS and their money issues which grew following the first mention of mold.
Out of the people we spoke with, the majority understand the need for a healthy learning environment yet account the increase as yet another rising cost.
"When you go to the grocery store and the gas pumps, and you put it all together you know we have quite a bit of taxes to pay as it is," said longtime Alamance County property owner, William Simmons.
"The four cent I think is reasonable and I'm willing to pay it," said Alamance County property owner, Melvin Stone.
Another property owner, Alan Ausley said he recently got his reappraisal in the mail. Ausley said his property value went up which means his property tax went up too now this increase is adding to that.
"Well, I'm not happy about it. I think I should probably claim that 10% senior discount," Ausley explained.
"I feel like it's reasonable to help the situation. I mean something has to change to help it out," said Alamance County resident, Wells Baggett.
Two members of the Alamance County Board of Commissioners voted against the increase Monday night at their meeting. One of those being Chairman, John Paisley.
Chairman Paisley sent the following statement Tuesday:
"This massive increase was unwarranted, especially in light of the following facts:
1. ABSS just retained a new Public Information Officer at a salary of $102,000; 2. ABSS recently paid just under 19 million dollars in bonuses to employees with no gain in retention of employees; 3. ABSS has held back 10 million dollars in approved spending for roofs for Graham and Southern High Schools since 2022, yet blames the County Commissioners for lack of funding; 4. ABSS continues to pay bonuses to principals whose growth rate has dropped below the required rate for state bonuses. 5. And, enters contracts without proper authorization pursuant to NC General Statutes and ABSS policy as outlined in the Govops letter dated June 12, 2024 signed by Clark J. Chapin, Senate Majority Staff Director."
Interim Superintendent Dr. Bill Harrison also released a statement regarding the commissioner's vote:
"This has been a very difficult budget season for ABSS, and for our commissioners as well. It is no secret that ABSS has been beset with financial difficulties this year and we did not really begin the budget process until I arrived in mid-March to serve as interim superintendent.
After several work sessions with our county staff and commissioners since mid-March, last night our commissioners voted for an increase of a little over 3.5 cents to county property taxes to help fund ABSS continuing needs for our 2024-2025 school year that begins July 1.
We are very appreciative of their support and their understanding during this challenging process. We also understand and appreciate how difficult their decision was to increase taxes.
While ABSS did not receive all that we requested, we believe we will be able to fund most of our needs with the commissioners' vote last night. Our staff will be meeting over the next week to make adjustments to our budget based on the commissioners' vote.
I believe we have put new guidelines in place to help demonstrate to our county staff, commissioners and, most importantly, to our community that ABSS is using our funds appropriately as we have outlined during this budget process.
We appreciate our commissioners' support for our students, schools and our community. I also have to thank our own ABSS staff for their diligence and hard work in developing a budget that our commissioners could support and for the patience and understanding from our county finance staff who worked with us along the way.
Now that we have resolved the budget, I believe this helps clear the way for the new superintendent, when hired, to be able to focus on the real business of our schools; teaching and learning for our students."