Glen Alpine Aldermen compromise on 3-cent property tax cut

What took more than four months to debate ended with little fanfare in less than 15 minutes. The Glen Alpine Board of Aldermen approved the 2024-25 budget, giving residents a reduction in their property tax rate and full-time employees an increase in their annual salaries.

The budget passed unanimously (Luke Boone was absent) and marked the first official vote of the board’s newest alderman, Jim Frady.

The only public comment during the meeting directly addressed the tax rate.

Tim Suttles, a former Glen Alpine alderman, told the board, “We need to get rid of the city limits, so we are only paying one property tax (to Burke County).”

This isn’t the first time he has suggested effectively dissolving Glen Alpine as an incorporated town. In March 2023, Suttles said the new valuation of his property on Lail Road increased by $170,000, increasing his tax burden.

“We could just drop Glen Alpine as a town. It would still be Glen Alpine as a community but just let Burke County take over,” he said at the time.

On neither occasion did the board consider unincorporating the town of less than 2,000; however, this year the board did cut the tax rate by 10%.

The newly approved budget will drop the property rate to 26 cents per $100 in valuation. The 3-cent cut came out of discussions among the aldermen in the spring.

“This was a compromise, and I’m fine with it,” said Alderwoman Sheila Perkins after the vote on Monday, June 24. She had originally proposed a 2-cent decrease, citing the uncertainty in the economy and not wanting to put the Town behind a financial 8-ball.

On the other end of the spectrum, Alderman Reid Scott had pushed for slashing the rate to 25 cents.

“We need to give the townspeople a tax break,” Scott said during the board’s May 6 meeting. After Monday’s formal vote, he said everyone “gave a little” and agreed to a middle ground, though he remains concerned about retired residents living on fixed incomes.

During the April workshop, the aldermen debated whether to add a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to employees or split a dollar amount between COLA and merit raises or retention bonuses. The elected board chose to approve an across-the-board flat $4,200 salary increase. Glen Alpine employs seven full-time positions and two are currently vacant (police officers).

The majority of the Town’s revenue comes from property taxes. The budget projects revenues as $1,225,565 from property tax and $500,000 from sales tax.

The budget expenditures by department are as follows:

• Police Department: $476,838 (39%)

• Public Works: $342,450 (28%)

• Administration: $246,472 (20%)

• Fire Department: $159,805 (13%)

The Town has a fund balance of $1.5 million of which $151,327 has been approved to balance the budget, if needed.

Once the meeting was over, Alderman Scott and his wife, Patsy, quickly went home and returned to Town Hall with an extension wand and water. The duo capped off the evening by giving a healthy drink to the ferns and flowers beautifying the front entrance.

“We water the flowers downtown, but we don’t typically water these,” Patsy said, but noted the plants looked like they needed the attention.

Angela Kuper Copeland is editor of The Paper. She may be reached at 828-445-8595 or angela@thepaper.media.