Valdese sets aside more in savings, proposes balanced $7.9M budget
The cart model for recycling and trash in Valdese, if the town were to switch to Simply Green. The total amount for all needed carts is $230,000.
Compared to last year’s budget, the Town of Valdese is putting more away into their “savings” with this year’s fiscal 2025-26 budget.
The town has a balanced budget for the upcoming fiscal year, meaning that its expenditures and revenues are the same. The total expenditures/revenues equal $7,900,459. The proposal enables the town to put $2,392 into its general fund.
The council and senior staff spent almost seven and a half hours on Tuesday and Wednesday at the town’s annual budget retreat at Town Hall. The first day focused on the general funds while the second was devoted to the utility fund. The general fund is the principal financial support for basic services like police and fire departments, parks and recreation, and government operations. The utility funds are primarily infrastructure-related, with funds coming from the water and sewer service fees.
The budget must be finalized and adopted by the council not later than June 30.
Interim Town Manager/CFO Bo Weichel presented the proposed balanced budget. Here are some of the takeaways from this year’s budget retreat.
SIMPLY GREEN VS. REPUBLIC
“Believe it or not, most of the complaints that we get are not water rates or streets. It’s trash and recycling,” Weichel said, which got a round of agreeing gestures.
The town has been contracting with Republic Services since 2017, but there is a growing number of complaints about their service. Other municipalities are looking for alternate solutions as well, according to Weichel.
As an alternative, Weichel presented Simply Green, a local recycling company expanding into the sanitation business.
The town pays Republic $15.02 for each of its 1,800 customers, a rate expected to increase to $15.77 in the next fiscal year. Simply Green’s rate is $14.27, which will increase to $14.67. The town charges residents $14.30.
Switching to Simply Green would save Valdese about $28,000 in the first year, with more long-term savings over the next few years.
The biggest expense related to the switch would be the purchase of 3,650 carts at $63 each. This would cost $230,000, which would be built into the $14.30 residents pay. Changing service providers would not modify the pick-up schedule.
Weichel also told council that he applied for a $30,000 grant through the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality and was informed days before the budget retreat that the application was approved. The grant would go toward the purchase of the carts and allow the town to place $30,000 back into the fund balance.
Weichel informed Republic Services that Valdese was exploring alternate options, but the company has not offered to negotiate or decrease its pricing.
The sooner the council decides whether to switch service providers, the quicker the staff can start key tasks, including completing paperwork and ordering carts. Cart delivery would take eight to 12 weeks.
VACANT POSITIONS
The developing Valdese budget is missing two key salaries: the Town Manager and Planning Director.
Both are essential to Valdese’s development yet are proving difficult to fill.
The town has been without a permanent town manager for more than 16 months, with the dismissal of town manager Seth Eckard on Dec. 1, 2023. Eddie Perrou was the interim town manager for about a month, followed by former Burke County manager Bryan Steen on Jan. 2, 2024. The interim role then fell into the lap of Assistant Town Manager Bo Weichel. He’s held the mantle since Aug. 23, 2024.
The planning director position has been vacant since November 2024 when former director Larry Johnson retired. Ashley Young of the Western Piedmont Council of Governments (WPCOG) handles planning and zoning for the town, but only on Wednesdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
As he presented the related departments, Weichel explained that the two positions are up in the air. These positions have not been written into their proposed department budgets, Administrative and Planning.
“We don’t know when that’ll happen and how much it’ll be,” Weichel said regarding the manager position. “At that time, even if it’s next fiscal year, we can adjust the budget.”
Regarding the director position, Weichel proposed that the town continue working with WPCOG with a fill-in planner working two days a week ($59,400). It is a two-year contract, but the town can give WPCOG a 30-day notice once a director is selected.
Councilman Glenn Harvey suggested the town could contract the WPCOG to mentor a college graduate.
“If we can recruit somebody right out of school, their salary will be a little lower, which would afford us to have the COG on hand to guide them a bit,” Weichel noted.
Mayor Charlie Watts added that Morganton hired a recent graduate to be their planner. That hire quit after only five months.
“It might be noted that we have difficulty filling any of our positions that are empty. I think that’s a statewide challenge, not just here,” Watts said.
There are two vacant positions in the fire department, two in public works, one in the police department, and the town manager position.
The council has a scheduled budget review meeting for Monday, May 12, which is under review to determine whether they will need it. The council will meet on Monday, April 28, for their May preagenda meeting at 6 p.m. at Town Hall.
Saydie Bean is the municipal and courts reporter. She may be reached at 828-445-8595, ext. 2011, or saydie@thepaper.media.
