Town of Mocksville Special Board Meeting Budget Workshop March 25, 2025 The Town of Mocksville Board of Commissioners met for the Special Board Meeting on Tuesday, March 25, 2025 at 6:00 p.m. in the Mocksville Town Hall located at 171 S. Clement Street. Present: Mayor, Will Marklin Absent: Commissioners Present: Rob Taylor Jenny Stevenson Johnny Frye Justin Draughn Carl Lambert Others Present: Lee Rollins, Town Manager Lynn Trivette, Town Clerk, Finance Director Emily Quance, Human Resources Director/Deputy Clerk Brian Moore, Public Works Director Chris Vaughn, Parks and Grounds Director Frank Carter, Fire Chief Mayor Marklin called the meeting to order. The Town of Mocksville Board paused for a moment of silence. Adoption of Agenda A motion vas made by Commissioner Lambert t0 adopt the agenda as rilten. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Taylor which carried by a unanimous vote 5-0. Communications from Boards, Commissions & Agencies Budget Workshop Discussions: Tax Revaluation Town Manager Rollins addressed the Board and presented a spreadsheet that looks back at the last 6 years of the Town's audit numbers. Property tax evaluation numbers have a 41% changeover in the past 6 years which is impressive. The Town has kept tax rate at 29 cents per hundred, which allows for a good comparison of each year. You have the property tax evaluation, then you have the current year taxes collected that includes the 29 cents, sO you see a 36% increase over the 6-year period for current year taxes collected. Tax collections are at 99%. March 25, 2025 Ireviewed the current year taxes collected and compared them to total general fund expenditures. FY 2018- 2019 expenditures were $6,591,794 and FY 2023-2024 expenditures were $6,212,650. The Town Council controls the property tax rate. The tax levy as a percentage of expenses for FY2018-2019 was 40%, in FY 2023-2024, this increased to 58%. The tax levy as compared to expenses is healthy. FY 2023-2024 Fund Balance - End of Fiscal Year was $14,424,869; FY 2023-2024 Fund Balance as Percentage of Expenses was 216%. Current Budget FY2024-2025 anticipated taxes collected is $3,715,291; Total General Fund Expenditures is $7,462,207; and Tax Levy as Percentage of Expenses is at 50%. Revaluation 2025-2026 current numbers received from Davie County Tax Administrator, Jamon Gaddy: Property Valuation: $1,634,210,960 Remain at $.0029 Total Levy $4,739,212 Less Uncollected $26,000 It is required by statute to look at Revenue Neutral. Revenue Neutral: Property Valuation: $1,634,210,960 Rate $ .002289 Total Levy $3,740,709 Less Uncollected $26,000 Ifyou vote to go revenue neutral, you will be holding steady with your current tax collection budget at $3,714,709. Current proposed first draft FY2025-2026 budget, we have a budget of expenditures of $8,401,771. My recommendation is to keep the tax rate at $ .0029 and to utilize next fiscal year to assess. Currently, Powell Bill funds are for sidewalk projects. Your streets are an asset. I recommend moving forward with paving several streets in the amount of $453,882. Board consensus to keep tax rate at $ .0029 for next budget draft. Garbage/Recyclng and Water/Sewer Town Manager Rollins addressed the Board. Garbage and recycling should pay for itself. The General Fund has subsidized the current rates that Republic charges the customers. The Town negotiates a lower rate for residents. Commissions should consider allowing residents to pay full cost for garbage and recycling, which is an additional $4.80 every two months. Residents are currently paying $30.80. Town Manager Rollins recommended considering the recommendation made by Raefiltis, which is an increase of 6% for water & 14% for sewer. Water and sewer services are expensive. It was a wise decision to work with Davie County for a bulk water agreement. We still have capital improvement to make at the sewer plant. We need to be good stewards of our facilities. These rates will not go down. The Board discussed the impact ofincreasing customer bills to pay for garbage, recycling, water, and sewer; discussed what the average customer bi-monthly bill for water, sewer, garbage and recycling currently is and how much is would increase once the $4.80, 6% for water and 14% for sewer were added to bill. March 25, 2025 It was Board consensus to include in the next draft budget the trash and recycling increase of $4.80, the water increase of 6%, and the sewer increase of 14%. The Board would like to see different scenarios based on the new rates and tax increases. Non-Profits Finance Director Trivette addressed the Board and stated the donation amounts in the first draft are the same as last year budget. Town Manager Rollins addressed the Board. Nonprofits need to quantify the specific service they provide. Recommended to the Board to keep $15,000 in budget for HAP for a mural. The group will come to the Board to present what they would like to do for the mural before proceeding. Recommended to allocate $5,000 for Habitat for Humanity, but must come to Board to justify what they will be doing before they receive funds. The Board discussed funding for nonprofits and that nonprofits need to provide a service tied to the Town to receive funds from the Town. Yveddi provides a transportation service for the Town and will receive $10,000. Habitat for Humanity will be allocated $10,000 in funds, but must request funds for use within city limits before a check is written. Heritage Alliance Project (HAP) will receive $15,000 in funds for mural. This amount will be carried over from last fiscal. The group will come to the Board to present design for mural before proceeding. No funds for Art Council. No funds for Cognition. Staff Compensation Town Manager Rollins addressed the Board. The first draft budget includes a 3% increase to salaries across the board. Personnel policy allows for merit pay, but I can tell you that merit pay evaluation cannot truly be objective. In theory it sounds great, but there are unintended biases. We are paying employees to exceed expectations. There was not a pay increase last year. I do not recommend merit pay. Board consensus to give staff 5% salaryi increase across the board to show appreciation of staff; not in favor of the merit pay. Board in favor of increasing staff at fire station to add one additional full-time position. 5% across the board staff increases No grade change for Firefighter/EMT - wait until next pay study Part-Time stafft to receive 3% increase Add (1) Full-time Firefighter/EMT position Keep Board raises the same; add $50 per meeting Paving The Board discussed paving within the Town and agreed to pave all the streets in the first draft. Playground The Board discussed to not move forward at this time with the playground in the Main Street Park. March 25, 2025 SBA Donation The Board discussed possible donations that SBA Home could make; decoration in the middle ofthe round- about, scoreboard at Rich Park or pickle ball courts at Rich Park. Department Request No requests are taken away from department head lists. ChiefCarter addressed the Board to give more information on the Drone Project. He is certified to fly drone. Other departments will benefit from the drone also, such as Public Works, looking for water or sewer leaks in remote areas; and Community Development for events. Code Enforcement Discussed the Town having own Code Enforcement, possibly a part-time position. Budget Process The Board discussed the next steps in the budget process. The Budget Message and Budget Ordinance will be ready for the May agenda. In June, the budget will be adopted. Adjourn A motion vas made by Commissioner Taylor to adjourn the March 25, 2025 Special Board Meeting. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Draughn which carried by a unanimous vote 5-0. The attached documents are incorporated herewith and are hereby made a part of these minutes. 11 Mafin ML hh ilian William J. Marklin, Mayor dpn aaeke Lynn Trivette, MMC, NCCMC, Town Clerk March 25, 2025