Board of County Commissioners | Regular Meeting | June 16, 2026

001Mhm. >> Mhm. >> the June 16th, 2026 regular meeting of the Union County Board of Commissioners to order. At this time, I would like to recognize Commissioner Melissa Maril for the invocation. >> If you're so inclined, dear heavenly Father, thank you so much for your many blessings over this county and our constituents and everyone who provides services um to the families in our reach. Please be with us as we um make decisions that always honor you and take care of the ones that are depending on um our decisions, that we always do what's in um the best favor um, you know, to take care of our families, our law enforcement, our schools. And, um, we just praise you and ask you, um, to be with us so that we can be your hands and feet

002to to serve. In your name we pray. Amen. >> Amen. >> You'll stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> The next item on the agenda is informal comments from the community. Each speaker must address the board from the lectern and begin their remarks by giving their name, stating whether they are residents of Union County, indicating the municipality in which they reside, if any. Each speaker will be given 3 minutes to make remarks. A tone may sound at the conclusion of your remarks. A speaker may not yield any of his or her time to another speaker. Speakers may not discuss matters which are subject

003of public hearings, and they must be courteous in their language and presentations. Re-statements or repetitive comments by the same speaker, whether the same or separate meetings, may be ruled out of order and terminated by the chair. Personal attacks will not be tolerated. Speakers may leave written comments and or supporting documents, if any, with the clerk to the board. We have two speakers signed up tonight. Uh, our first [clears throat] speaker tonight is John Canellas. Did I get that right? Yes, sir. Please come forward. Welcome. >> Hi. Um um I just I it's about the intersection with uh Bragg Street and uh Like S Avenue. Um the only uh not question um are they're wanting to take some parking spots from the front of um my parking lot. So, I was my suggestion was if they

004could they're going to add me any parking in the rear of my parking lot. So, that's really the only question I have. >> So, so your comment is really in regards to the >> The Bragg Street. >> the item on the agenda for the critical intersection plan. >> Yeah, that's all. >> Okay, so it's not the policy of the board that we answer questions during informal comment. >> Okay. >> Um but you're welcome to make remarks and let us know your concerns. >> I I was just I think I signed up for that. I think that's what it was for. I wasn't sure. So. >> Okay. >> That's all. >> All right. Thank you, sir. >> Thanks. >> All right, our next speaker is Jackie Adams. >> Hi, I'm an incorporate I'm an incorporate in

005municipality. Okay, wonderful. Anything else besides that? >> No. >> Perfect. All right. Good evening. My name is Jackie Adams and I'm the founder of Homeward Bound Guest House, a nonprofit dedicated to dog welfare and injury prevention based here in Union County. Several years ago, my 5-year-old niece met a friend shih tzu's puppy. Like many children would, she leaned her face right into that fluffy dog's face and the dog promptly bit her right underneath the eye. Um that wasn't her fault. My niece was merely 5 years old. It was my fault. No one had ever taught me that allowing a child's face so close to a dog's face can make a dog uncomfortable and increase the risk of a dog bite. Thankfully, her injury was minor. We were very lucky. Many families aren't. According to the

006CDC, dog bites are one of the leading causes of non-fatal injuries that go to the emergency room every year. When a child is bitten, the cost extend far beyond the ER. Families [snorts] face medical bills, missed work, follow-up care, emotional trauma, and in some cases life-long physical and psychological scars. Yet, there is no widely adopted, evidence-based curriculum teaching children and families the simple behaviors that can prevent many dog bites before they happen. Over the past year, my non-profit Homeward Bound Guest House has delivered dog bite prevention education to more than 3,000 students across our region, including students in the Union County schools. We're also working with nationally recognized experts in injury prevention and public health to evaluate our program and explore whether the model that we're building here could help families far beyond our community.

007Now, please don't misunderstand me. I love dogs. In fact, my 35th and 36th foster dogs, Bonnie and Clyde, are at home right now waiting for me. This work is not about teaching people to fear dogs. It's about helping children, families, and dogs better understand one another so we can safely thrive together. So, tonight I simply wanted to introduce myself, raise awareness about this issue, and let you know that this work is happening right here in Union County. Together, we have an opportunity to protect children, support our families, and strengthen the bond between people and our four-legged best friends. Thank you so much for your time. >> Thank you. So, that concludes the speakers that have signed up to speak. Is there anyone in the audience that would care to make informal comments? Okay. Seeing none,

008then we will move to our next agenda item. >> [clears throat] >> The next three items on our agenda are public hearings. Uh we've got two for rezonings and one for the conveyance of county-owned property. Uh before opening the first public hearing, I'll read the rules that will apply to the members of the public for each of these public hearings. Each speaker must address the board from the lectern and begin their remarks by giving their name, stating whether they are residents of Union County, indicating the municipality within uh which they reside, if any. Each speaker will have 3 minutes to make remarks. A tone may sound at the conclusion of your remarks. A speaker may not yield any of his or her time to another speaker. Speakers shall limit their remarks to the subject of

009the public hearing. Speakers may also leave written comments and or supporting documents, if any, with the clerk to the board. The first public hearing on our agenda tonight is item 26-320. That's rezoning petition 20 2026 CZ-007, Beulah Church. I will open the public hearing and recognize Bjorn Hansen, senior planner, for brief comments from county staff. Welcome, Bjorn. >> Good Mr. Chairman, members of the board, and Manager Matthews, find the right PowerPoint. So, this rezoning case, uh Beulah Church, is actually an amendment of a rezoning that had been approved by the Board of Commissioners approximately six years ago. Um it is located uh near Hemby Bridge, Weddington, and Indian Trail. The actual site plan that's shown here is is not being modified as a result of this rezoning. This is at the intersection Beulah Church and

010Waxhaw-Indian Trail. Twin Lakes um residential development is immediately to the north. This was approved and one of the conditions was an hours of operation limitation associated with it. Um that was a condition that was approved as a part of the rezoning back in 2020. Um since then, there's been a a hindrance for the owner to be able to attract um certain types of businesses such as um coffee shops or veterinary clinic, um things of that nature. So, the initial request was to change from from 9:00 to 9:00 p.m. to to uh 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. That would help with primarily the morning operations. Um at the May Land Use Board meeting, uh a nearby resident spoke and asked that an two additional conditions be placed on this development, which the applicant agreed to. The

011second one, which is uh the privacy fence, which will be on the western edge of the property, be made of solid material. This will be to reduce noise. And then, the last one was to schedule trash and recycling pickup between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. because it could happen at 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning and and uh affect their sleep. The applicant agreed to these conditions, which is something that has to be done. We can't impose conditions on the applicant, uh but they did agree that they these were reasonable. So, these have been added. They're in in addition to what was initially requested from this rezoning. So, the site is undeveloped. Uh you can see to the north you have the the stone wall associated with the Twin Lakes development. The site itself is

012a combination of cleared and forested two-lane roads in both directions, a roundabout immediately uh to the east of the site. In terms of development, the neighborhood in question is is where my cursor is. This is the house that's going to benefit from that wall, which would be in this area as a part of the construction of the commercial aspect. The um nearby area is a combination of developed and um single-family neighborhoods, some commercial, churches, and some undeveloped property. This structure layer from 2023 doesn't reflect all the homes that have been built in this area since then. In terms of environmental features, uh there's really nothing on the site. It's It's tree There it's forested, but there's no streams or wetlands or uh flood plain. In terms of zoning, the gray areas are in municipality, so

013we don't apply zoning to it. Um the remainder is largely um R-40 with a little bit of um B-2, which is this site, and then the R-4, which is a uh senior living facility across the street that had been rezoned several years ago as well. In terms of transportation, there's no funded improvements in the area. Uh Waxhaw [snorts] and Trail has a traffic count of approximately 11,000 vehicles per day. Bethel Church doesn't have an assigned traffic count to it. There are some turn lane and and right in right out limitations associated with the initial site plan. Those aren't changing as a result of this. In terms of land use map, this is where it gets a little bit tricky. The one on the left is the land use map that was applied to the rezoning

014back in 2020. It showed a commercial node, which was actually added as a part of the um land use map to the area at the time. Felt it had been an omission to not have it on this intersection because there already were some um non-residential um developments in that area. Um the one on the right is the one that's been adopted and maintained by the county for the past 5 years. It identified this whole area as a transition zone, meaning that the county wasn't going to support up-zonings um of properties in this area. The recommendation is that they get annexed into the adjacent municipality. This really was a a compromise instead of um EEJ, which a lot of municipalities have been asking for in this area. So, the one on the map is one is

015the one we're applying. It was the one from 6 years ago. The one on the right would be if any new property came along and wanted to get rezoned. Now, in terms of schools and utilities, again, it's commercial, so the school system was not consulted. Water and sewer for Muni County are available to the site. In terms of public feedback, community meeting was held in April. 17 residents attended. A lot of questions about hours of operation, overall development. At that meeting, no changes were made. However, as noted earlier, at the planning board meeting in May, there were the two additional conditions. You should have a printout of the letter that was sent by that neighbor. She had a death in the family, wasn't able to attend. So, I spoke with her and printed these out

016to share with you. And in terms of municipal feedback, we reached out to Weddington and Wesley Chapel, and no comments were received. So, in terms of staff report recommendation, the negatives are that it could encourage additional com- commercial rezonings in the area, which would be inconsistent with the land use map. Additional commercial activity can increase uh traffic and congestion, which is a noted concern. However, the the positives are that it's already been rezoned. This gives them additional flexibility, makes it more feasible to develop, obviously affects the the tax base, um makes it more convenient for people who live in the area. It can meet our development standards and that the the changes that are proposed are fairly minor and any impacts have been accommodated in the conditions and the overall site plan. So, we recommend

017approval and the planning board at their meeting also recommended approval uh citing consistency with the land use map used at the time of the initial rezoning. So, I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have. The applicant is also here in case you have questions for him. >> Thank you, Bjorn. Any questions for Bjorn? >> No. >> Um Okay, and uh Bjorn, thank you uh for uh calling attention to I believe it's uh a uh comment that we got from a Ms. Gosler uh Gosler. Uh so, for the record, we have uh seen her comments. So, I want to acknowledge that because as I understand it, she's dealing [clears throat] with uh I think a death in her family. So, condolences to hers or to her and her family. Um okay. So, is the

018applicant I'm sorry, is the applicant here? Would the applicant like to make comments? >> Good evening, Mr. Chairman, board members. My name is Dean Harrell. I'm a lifelong member of Union uh lifelong resident of Union County and a native of Union County. My family's been here a long time and I've lived here all my life. Uh 2400 Beulah Church Road, Weddington is my address and this piece of property is a is pretty much an out parcel of a larger piece that we owned in the area. This is piece that was left over and it's been many years ago it was approved and then we mothballed it for some time because of inflation and then the cost. But now the the rents are catching up to what the inflation was and it's justifiable now. What we

019ran into and we really don't understand, we've never put a time limit on any of our projects. But this got a a limit on it from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and we just we didn't really catch it until our tenants started asking, "Well, we can't we can't operate within those hours." For example, we've got like a a donut shop shop coffee shop that wants to open up to catch the pre-work crowd at 6:30. Well, they start winding off around um 2:00 p.m. So, they're more of a morning crowd. We also have a veterinarian who wants to go there to open up at 6:30 to catch that morning crowd to drop their pets off for either um you know, operation or or for a checkup or whatever. And then they close up earlier in the

020afternoon. Um and then we have a deli that wants to be there from um 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. So, we've got a little range there, but right now 9:00 to 9:00 just seems to be that slot where nobody works for nobody. So, we're asking for the modification uh from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. So, that gives a a variance of if someone wants the morning traffic, fine. If someone wants the evening traffic to have the restaurant open to like 9:00 or 9:30 is is what we're going for. So, I'll be happy to ask uh answer any questions you may have. >> Thank you, Mr. Harrell. Any questions for Mr. Harrell? >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay. So, um at this time we'll take comments regarding

021this item, this public hearing. And I do not have any comments uh or any folks signed up to comment for this public hearing. Is there anyone in the audience that would like to make comments regarding this public hearing? Okay. Seeing none, then I [clears throat] will now close the public hearing. The sec- the second public hearing tonight is item 26-321 for rezoning petition 2026-CZ-005, Macateer. I will open the public hearing and again recognize Bjorn Hansen, senior planner, for brief comments from county staff. Welcome back, Bjorn. >> Thank you. It's good to be back. So, this is uh a rezoning. This is a new rezoning um called Macateer for the applicant, uh the owner of the property. This is located um on Rocky River just south of NC 75. It is a portion of a larger

022parcel that is for an existing business currently in the Monroe area. It's a site preparation business for construction. So, the site plan uh off of Rocky River has a office building with employee parking in the back is a a gravel fenced-in area for equipment and material storage as well as a couple warehouses associated with it. There is um stormwater facility uh here on the northwestern portion of the site. This is in a water supply watershed uh for the city of Monroe, so there's a a maximum uh built upon area requirement and they've met that, which is important for um water supply purposes. The request is for the site plan that I just listed. The uses are limited to office, warehouse, and construction equipment material storage. Uh there's the 5-year vesting of the development rights. They'll

023meet the requirements of the UDO. Uh one thing I'll note is this will be subdivided out from a larger parcel. It's about 5 and 3/4 acre the overall parcel is approximately, I think, 17. So, this would be subdivided from that as a part of that process. In terms of the site, it's um row crops. Uh you can see Rocky River Road to the north and to the south uh large lot residential and agricultural uses. In terms of uh development status, again, you can see that portion of the overall site that would be subdivided out and rezoned. Uh it's it's again large lot residential. You can see the intersection with the roundabout at 75 and uh Rocky River where there's already quite a bit of of business and industrial zoned land. In terms of environmental features,

024uh again, this is in the water supply watershed. You have a a stream through the middle of the site. Uh and otherwise, it's it's largely cleared for crops. And you again, you can see the zoning immediately to the north is the light industrial and business zoning. There's in fact a business here as well, but it's legal non-conforming because it's been in operation for so long. So, they're allowed to continue doing that even though they have RA-40 zoning. In terms of transportation, there's no funded improvements in this area. This section of Rocky River carries almost 5,000 vehicles per day. Little bit more when you get on to NC-75 at the intersection, but there's no funded improvements in this area. In terms of the land use map, uh this is an overlay for the employment corridor that

025stretches along NC-75. This is immediately adjacent to NC-75, so we think it's appropriate to apply that to this rezoning. And again, it would just be to the portion in yellow. Otherwise, underneath it it's it's rural residential, which is lower density residential and agricultural uses. Similar to the previous rezoning, this is commercial in nature, so the school system was not consulted. Water is available, but they will use a septic field. Community meeting was held in late March. Two residents attended questions about the process and timeline for the rezoning. No changes were made to the site plan as a result of that meeting. Mineral Springs was not consulted due to the distance to their municipal limits. And in terms of the positives and negatives, the positives are it's consistent with the land use map. It's a reasonably

026sized parcel. They're not trying to put too much on a on a small piece of land. There's already a lot of non-residential uses immediately nearby, and it will provide additional business opportunities in this part of Union County. The negatives are that you're developing right now something that doesn't generate any traffic, so there could be increased congestion on nearby roads. Water supply watershed concern in terms of building upon an area that ultimately drains to Monroe drains to Monroe's water supply, and could stimulate additional industrial rezonings in this area, which puts it in conflict with residential uses nearby. However, we recommend approval, and the planning board also recommended approval on a unanimous vote, citing consistency with the land use map. I'm happy to answer any questions. The applicant is also here to answer any questions you may

027have. >> Thank you, Bjorn. Any questions for Bjorn? Commissioner Malcolm. >> One question. Bjorn, on the one of the earlier slides, you identified a storm water facility. What is What is that? >> A detention pond. >> Just a detention pond. Okay. >> Yeah. >> Yep, right. >> I just want to be sure. >> Yes, sir. >> Thank you. >> Um Bjorn Bjorn, I've got a question as well. And uh you mentioned that um the 5.75 acre uh parcel that we're considering here uh that that would be subdivided from a 17.1 acre parent parcel. Is that >> Yes, sir. >> I understand that correct? And that would remain RA40. >> That is correct. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh would the applicant like to come up and make any kind of comments? >> Good evening, chair and

028commissioners. Um I'm Union County resident, own the land that backs up to it. I own a total of 70 acres right there. Um bought the land from our family in uh uh 2020, I guess it was. And uh it's been our family since the early 1900s. So, um just uh trying to make the use of it for our business. We been in business in Union County for 23 years. Uh years ago we were landscaping, we were buying trees from Clancy and plants from his family. Um then we transitioned over into grading and utilities over the over the years. We employ about 50 people currently. Um and uh just uh we'd like y'all to approve it if we can get it. So, um being that we didn't have any comments this evening, if uh if we

029could get a vote, would be fantastic and no nobody's objected to it. So, we appreciate it. >> Thanks, sir. Any questions for the applicant while he's here? >> No. >> Okay. All right. Um I don't have any speakers signed up uh for this public hearing. Is there anyone in the audience who would like to make comments regarding this public hearing item. Okay. Seeing none, then I will close the public hearing. All right. So, the third public hearing is um this evening is item 26-335 for conveyance of county owned property in the Union County Industrial Park Project Canopy. I will open the public hearing and recognize Deputy County Manager Patrick Nilan for brief comments from county staff. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh we're here to consider the conveyance of just over 60 acres of county

030owned property in the Piedmont Innovation Park. This uh land was purchased in 2019 uh for industrial and commercial development. Uh we sold off 124 acres immediately. There's about 160 acres remaining. This would um be 60 acres from that 160 acres. Uh this would be for the McGee Corporation to expand their manufacturing facility. Um they're looking at building a 366,000 square foot manufacturing facility at a and the sale would be for a price of 4.2 million dollars. Um which is just under $70,000 an acre. So, with that, I can answer any questions you all may have and if if none, um we just need to conduct the public hearing to be able to close on the property. >> [snorts] >> All right. Thank you, Patrick. Any questions for Patrick regarding this item? >> No, sir. >>

031Nope. Okay. So, no question or I'm sorry, no questions for for Patrick. Is there anyone in the audience that would um like to make comment? I do not have anybody signed up for public comment on this item. All right, seeing none, then I will now close the public hearing. >> [clears throat] >> The next item on our agenda is item 26-337, proclamation for America 250 month. I will now recognize Liz Cooper. Public public communication is required for this item. Welcome, Liz. >> Thank you. Good evening, Chairman and Commissioners. Um what you have before you is a proclamation designating July 2026 as America 250 month in Union County in recognition of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. I encourage residents to visit our America 250 webpage, which has information on events

032throughout the community this summer and beyond, programs, historical stories, resources, and that's available at unioncountync.gov/america250. And I also want to highlight our America 250 student art contest. We recently extended the deadline for submissions to this Thursday, June 18th. And so, we are collecting those and all of the contest details are on our website that's linked also on the homepage. So, thank you for your consideration of this proclamation and your support of America 250 initiatives throughout the county. >> Thank you, Liz. >> Thank you. >> Any questions for Liz regarding any of that? All right. Um So, I'll make a motion that we adopt the proclamation. Uh yeah, I So, I'll make the motion that we adopt the proclamation recognizing July 2026 as America 250 month in Union County. Any discussion on that motion? All right.

033All those in favor of the motion say I. >> I. >> No opposed. Thank you, Liz. The next item on our agenda is item 26-339, service award recognition. I will now recognize Jennifer Davis, assistant director of human resources for this item. >> Good morning, chairman and commissioners. On Wednesday, May 27th, we hosted our Q2 service award ceremony to celebrate 27 employees who had met an anniversary milestone. Of those 27 employees, during the ceremony, we celebrated and recognized 11 5-year recipients, 3 10-year recipients, 2 20-year recipients, and 1 25-year recipient. We are beyond grateful to be able to host these events for our employees, and we cherish all the stories that we hear behind each employee. We hope that you will enjoy a few key moments from our event with this short video. Thank you. >>

034[music] [music] >> I welcome you to our Q2 service award. Um today we are celebrating employees who are celebrating milestones for >> [music] >> um April, May, June. So, welcome to all of you. We will be celebrating 16 employees today. We'll be celebrating 5 years, 10 years, >> [music] >> um a 20-year, and then a 25-year. So, congrats to all. >> It's wonderful to work alongside her, um and I think the rest of the team would echo [music] that, too. >> I want to say thank you for your service. We look forward to many more. >> Thank you. >> Maria, you are truly a wonderful person to work with and we are so lucky to have you on our team. Congratulations. >> Working alongside Jennifer has been a joy and I look forward to many

035more [music] years with her. Congratulations on 5 years with Union County. >> Most of all, we appreciate your service to Union County, your service to all of these folks [music] who serve Union County. And thank you very much for 5 years of service. >> What I love most about the work here is it's meaningful. Seeing what you're doing actually, you know, unfold and and and making it a change in the community is is very rewarding and probably the the best part of of my position. >> Hayley has just finished her leadership training here in Union County just this last week and graduated >> [music] >> from that and has aspirations to grow her career for a long time here in Union County and we very much welcome that. You've been a wonderful addition to our

036team. Everybody values you, myself included. Thank you for 5 years of service. >> Whitney is my rock. I rely on her tremendously and I'm incredibly fortunate to have her on my team and this county is very fortunate to have her work here. >> You guys literally quite literally met down everything we do. That being said, thank you for 25 incredible years. >> I'm the GIS supervisor now. My title has changed [laughter] a few times with the tax administrator's office. I I like to have the time to really delve into something and figure out how did we get here? And where where could we go from here? >> You know, Garrett, really all I want to say is man, it's been great working with you these 10 years. [music] I appreciate your loyalty, the leadership you

037provided for your team, your [music] dedication, hard work. I look forward to doing some more time with you, my friend. Thank you so much. >> And she has led her [music] team greatly and they look up to her and they go to her for guidance and I'm super proud of her and I wish her many more years of service and I thank you [music] for being here. Congratulations. >> [applause] >> This man has dedicated his life to keeping kids safe. Um, like I said, life briefly took him to another agency, but we were fortunate enough to get him back. Um, he came here, started [music] working cases again, and was recently promoted to be a supervisor again. >> Velma, we truly appreciate all that you do, your upbeat persona that you bring to the department,

038and thank you for your 10 years of service with Union County. >> [applause] >> Being here 10 years, um, and having an award ceremony means a lot to me. It means that everything that I done and provided and helped with has, uh, given me the support to go another year, another mile. >> Appreciate you, Kathy. Good work. Good job. >> I actually tell a lot of people that they should look at local government, especially, you know, uh, I used to have a lot of students. Um, I've always told them to focus there. It's a great place to to get a start. Um, and there's a lot of different options, um, and, uh, a lot of benefits, a lot of a lot of good work that happens. So, um, a lot of good opportunities. >> You

039guys are what make this place the the best thing about Union County. And, uh, I know that it's difficult sometimes come up here, it's out of your comfort zone, to stand up here and talk about your co-workers, to say things, uh, about the work that they do and your relationships with them, but they appreciate it. You can tell that they appreciate, uh, your words and that you're here to celebrate them. I appreciate it. I like hearing the stories. I like hearing some of the words you used to describe like tenacious and calming and, you know, anything that you talk about your co-workers. Um, at the end of the day, you all are the most important thing here at Union County. You're our most valuable asset. So, I hope you have a good rest of your

040day. Thank you so much for being part of Union County. >> [music] [clears throat] >> Thank you, Jennifer, for that. Um uh you know, these videos are always uh always great to watch because it gives uh so much insight about the culture here at Union County. Um and this one especially so because we had a obvious obviously appearance there from Mr. K. So, uh a man of many talents. Yeah, a couple of times, that's right. All right. Thank you so much for that. Uh the next item on our agenda is item 26-361, Union County Sheriff's Office update. I will now recognize Sheriff Kathy. Apparently, that >> [laughter] >> Well, what I wasn't expecting you, Sheriff. I was expecting Chief Underwood. >> show up anywhere. Uh I don't I'm not going to take much time, but

041I [clears throat] do want to say thank you for the budget process for the county county commissioners that allowing this process to take place. You know, I've been uh doing this budget for a lot of years. This is the smoothest one we've had. That's saying if you pass everything. And [laughter] I know you will. But, it's been a pleasure to work with the staff, the finance, the budget, uh Lynn. Golly. Lynn. >> She's Yeah, she's great. >> I just took advantage cuz Tony's going to take care of the rest of this. >> [laughter] >> And I appreciate it. >> Thank you, Sheriff. I'll now recognize uh Chief Deputy Tony Underwood. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um so, really this item is on the agenda as an operational update for the board, but specifically, I wanted

042to address some of the informal comments you have heard going back to March 16th. I think collectively, there have been three in separate individuals who have come forward and spoken about the Sheriff's Office usage of Flock cameras. Those license plate readers that we do have out in the community. So, I just wanted to address some of those comments and get it on the record to recognize first and foremost, we do appreciate the first gentleman that spoke back on March 16th. He pointed out that the Sheriff's Office did not have a policy that was required by state statute, General Statute 20-183.31. Which we did not. So, we'll we'll accept responsibility. We did not have a policy at the time he first spoke of that, which was on March 16th. But, please understand the Sheriff's Office does

043not operate that way. Once we became aware that that statute did exist, the next day on March 17th, we drafted a policy, Sheriff signed off on it, and it went into effect. That policy, after further review of it, we recognized it probably fell a little bit short of what the statute required, which specifically, as some of these residents have pointed out, there were nine separate requirements per that statute. We have since updated that, and on April the 20th, that updated policy has been implemented. The Sheriff has approved that. It has been disseminated to our agency, and that is the the policy that we now operate under. That was prior to the last gentleman that spoke, I believe, at the last Board of County Commissioners meeting. Um they apparently were unaware that that policy does exist.

044We We believe we're comfortable that that policy is in full compliance with state statute. So, I just wanted to get that on the record so that you're As the Sheriff said, hopefully there's there's some funding in the budget tonight to fully implement the remainder of year two of the Flock Safety contract. That's a a program that we are very blessed to have, and it is a game changer in law enforcement. It is a crime prevention tool, and certainly a a tremendous investigative tool that we use to solve a lot of cases. And it's a game-changer. So, we we hope that you'll continue to support that funding for that. If there's any questions, I'll try to answer them. Any questions? >> Yes, I don't really have my question structured yet, but um I think my main

045concern is people just feel like we're being watched all the time, you know, a little bit of >> Sure. >> um uh you know, probably we may be giving up some freedom for security. Um and I just would like for you to speak to that for a second. >> Well, the cameras that we utilize, these are basically static cameras. They're on a pole. We're not surveilling anybody. Once you drive by that location where that camera is, it doesn't look it into the car itself. It captures a license plate, a description, a picture of that car. Nobody's following you in that car down the road. And it's it's really there's a diminished, if any, expectation of privacy in the public domain. You go outside, you're probably on somebody's camera you step outside this building. There are

046cameras everywhere. Everybody uses them. And it is a tremendous tool for public safety, and we rely upon that. We have solved two homicides in this county over the last several years. Thankfully, we don't have a lot of homicides in this county. But, couple of them were pretty difficult cases, and without those those cameras and the ability to utilize that Flock network, um it would have been a much longer process to to identify the suspects involved in those cases. So, the concern about the surveillance component is no different than your phone. Your phone's tracking everything you're doing. Um but, people willingly sign up for that. And we certainly want to take advantage of every piece of technology that's out there as long as it's lawful. We want to take advantage of that. And I think we

047use it, you know, wisely. >> All right. Thank you. Thank you, Chief. Appreciate that. >> Thank you. >> [clears throat] >> It is now time for consideration of any changes to the agenda. Are there any motions regarding requests or revisions or amendments to either the consent or the business agenda? >> Mr. Chairman, Patrick, I just want to make a clarifying remark. During the public hearing for the conveyance of the property to McGee, there was a number that was shown on the slide. It was a 4.267 number. That was the initial contract amount. What was left off was through due diligence, there was some land that was discovered that had some wetland issues. So, we reduced the price by $130,000. So, the actual sale price is $4.1 million. 36,650. And I just wanted to make that

048clarification before you vote on consent because that action is listed on consent. What's in the agenda is correct. It was just that information was left off the slide. I apologize for that. >> Thank you, Patrick. Any questions regarding that information? >> Will you be adding that information after this meeting for future reference or archives to the agenda? Okay. >> All right. Any other questions before we move on? All right. So, I think we're back to any requests or revisions or amendments to either the consent or the business agenda. Seeing none, is there a motion to approve the items listed on the consent agenda as published? >> Chairman Helms, I'd like to make a motion that we approve the consent agenda as published. >> Okay. Thank you, Vice Chair Helms. So, we've got a motion. All

049those in favor of the motion say aye. Aye. We are now at the business portion of our agenda. The first item of business tonight is item 26-351, adoption of the FY2027 budget. I'll now recognize County Manager Brian Matthews for this item. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Pull up this real quick. This will be brief unless you have a lot of questions. So, just to recap, um at the previous June meeting, we had the public hearing for the recommended budget for FY2027. I'll just go over just a small snippet of that. Uh the total for funds for FY2027, and that's all funds, is 664,310,307. Um as you can see below, it's broken up into a number of funds. General fund would be a little over 470 million. Other funds, such as our enterprise, which would be

050water and sewer, special revenue, and your internal services funds, um you know, that would make up the balance of that. Um just to highlight some of the items that are part of this budget. Uh number one, there is no recommended tax rate change. The rate would stay the same at 43.42 cents. We're redirecting 3. 17 million dollars from existing capital funds to other capital needs. Uh 5.69 million dollars in unassigned fund balance being allocated for other um one-time needs, such as vehicles, software, uh CIP. Um we're also funding uh one additional uh school resource officer. I want to make it very clear that we are not defunding the school re- Yes, sir. Oh. >> Okay, there we are. >> Okay. Uh I was trying to stop you there. We We lost our mic. >> went

051blank. Okay, sorry. >> Sorry about that, Brian. We'll continue >> I can see it's still up there. So, I've been All right, we're good. You're back. So, uh we are not defunding um or eliminating any funding for the school resource officers. I I do want to make that clear. We are shifting some of that funding into the tax rate for education, but the balance of that is still covered under the tax uh under the general fund for the county. And we're also adding this additional position, which will round out and finish the SRO program for all schools in Union County. Uh we are doing an education and military incentive program for our sheriff's office. We think that'll make them certainly more competitive. We're putting $800,000 for our EMS uh partners. We're spending 500 Well, we're

052putting aside $556,000 for land acquisition for economic development. This board has been very supportive of our economic development activities, and this just provides additional funding for hopefully the purchase of additional land. Uh we're also going to be in the third year of our annual rate increases for water and sewer. They're broken into different rates. So, 7.25% for water customers, 6% for sewer customers. Then $5.6 million increase in operating funds for Union County Public Schools. $3.8 million will be set aside in contingency funds for stipends for teachers and teachers' assistants. That is contingent upon a interlocal agreement with UCPS. We're also fully funding their capital request at $20.9 million. And we're providing $4.8 million in operating funds for South Piedmont Community Community College. Obviously, there's a lot more stuff in the budget than this, but these

053are the highlights of the items that make up that total budget. I'll be happy to answer any questions that you might have. >> Thank you, Brian. Any questions for the county manager? >> I have Well, I have a request. Um Manager Matthews, going forward, if you could go ahead and alert UCPS from now on, we would like a line item budget for from them. Um not only for staff, but for the board, but for the public as well. Um I was approached multiple times um during the budget process asking why they weren't giving or publishing a line item budget. So, I would like to go ahead and let them know now so they can budget appropriately. If they do not have the correct software to somehow get the correct software and go ahead because we

054are expecting that going forward. >> Absolutely. I will take care of that. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, and I've got I I I agree with the vice chair. Um I've got some comments uh that I want to make on the budget and I want to circle back to to something that she just uh said there. Um so, first of all, I I want to say, you know, thank you to you and and your staff um for all the effort that you guys put into this budget. Um you know, we've talked about the budget now for a couple of meetings. Um but in all honesty, this is this is our operating document. This is what we live by, the county government lives by, and and it affects so many different um you know, portions uh of

055the county, whether that's the the sheriff's office, whether that's uh schools, um DHHS, and everything else is kind of tied in with this. So, it is so very important that we get this right, and you and your staff do a great job. >> Thank you. >> Um since, you know, you've been our county manager, and even going back to when you're serving as our interim, uh this has been one of one of your strengths uh personally and also the strengths of your staff and so we certainly appreciate it. Um I I won't go over everything because Lord knows we had 3 hours of discussion um on I think it was the third uh about certain aspects of the budget. What I will say is is that uh is that you know, we've we've kind of

056split up this tax rate numerous times. We've talked about the percentages, you know, that go to educational partners and and that is a staggering percentage. You know, we're looking at uh 71 to our education partners as a whole, 71% of the tax rate. Um you know, 60 if you just you know, whittle out UCPS and then SPCC, then I think you're looking at about 67. The The point that I'm trying to make is is that all of that means is that we operate our county budget here and we fund uh the services here from the county, whether that's the sheriff's office or whether that's DHHS or uh fire um you know, EMS, all these other aspects of county is essentially operated off of 12.75 cents of the tax rate. Um and I think that that's

057important. I think it's important that we discuss, you know, where where the tax rate goes. Uh because I mean, we've had so many people ask us, including other elected officials that serve on other boards that, you know, hey, where where's our tax dollars going? Um we have a very tight budget and and again, that's a credit to the fiscal responsibility of our staff and also this board. And in fact, you know, I you always put a budget theme in your budgets and and I appreciated uh yours this year. Uh but it does center around fiscal responsibility. Uh I want to quickly bring up the bifurcated budget cuz I think that that's important uh for people to understand and we've talked about that a couple of times, too, and uh you know, the bifurcation has been

058around now for a few years. So I think we first adopted that in and mine and Commissioner Merrill's first budget which was 2023 Commissioner Stoney Rushing was living. And you know that bifurcated budget model was something that was heavily supported at that point point in time with our educational partners. So our Board of Education supported that. And you know to your credit you've explained this but I want to I want to go over this again one more time for the public so that so that we make sure that everybody's on the same page. But this model exists because it gives greater transparency for the tax dollars the public's tax dollars. And it shows you you know where these tax dollars go. But there's other benefits to the bifurcated budget as well. And you know we've

059we've talked about especially with UCPS because UCPS accounts for so much of our budget. But you know they get statutory front funds from from the the state formula. But the bifurcated model helps us with funding other aspects. And I want to make that clear because what that allows us to do and and when I say us I'm really talking about you and staff. You guys do all the heavy lifting here but >> Staff. >> [laughter] >> But but you know I think it I think it sometimes get gets lost this model allows us a lot greater visibility on what we can afford for the next fiscal year. So we have a good idea going into the next fiscal year. And it's my understanding that that that's communicated with say you know UCPS and our education

060partners. So they are aware and this bifurcated model and what they're funding you may present from that is based in part on a number of factors Um, one of those is sales tax. So a little bit of sales tax revenue, as I as I understand it. >> Yes, sir. >> Um, and I just want to make sure that people understand that we're not pulling numbers all willy-nilly saying, you know, hey, this is what we're going to give to the schools or this is what we're going to, you know, give to to this department. There's a there's a method, you know, that we utilize. Um, and I would say that our staff utilizes that very well for planning purposes. Um, so, you know, I won't I want people to understand that we approach this process with

061the partners that we fund with some of that knowledge ahead of time. And this model also encourages that partnership. We've talked about that partnership a few times. Um, where uh, we win together and we lose together. You know, we've we're we're in this thing together with our with our partners like UCPS. Um, other key takeaways that I've got on this is, you know, we're talking about uh, investment in public safety. Uh, so, you know, you've hit this a few times that about the four new detention officers officers the one USRO, that's been a big focus, you know, of this board um, is trying to make sure that we have a one-to-one ratio of SROs in our school or in our schools. Um, economic development, you know, that's something that we've talked about time and time

062again is the importance of economic development especially given the fact that Union County's 90% residential and 10% everything else. That's not a sustainable trajectory. That's not where we need to be. Um, because when you're 90% residential and, you know, I know I've said this probably a million times, what that means is is 90% of your tax base comes from your residents. We need to diversify that tax base and that investment in economic development is critical to our county and the future of our county. Water, so, you know, you've got water here on here. I think water is uh, has been a big priority for all of us as well. Um, not necessarily sewer, but um, but water. And and I think that goes back to the environments that we grew up in. Um, many of

063us are from that Piedmont area and we know the struggles of of water in that area. Um, and water's always going to be a challenge for our county. Um, because we don't have, you know, one of these big reservoirs within our borders. Um, and you know, with all the residential development that we've seen, it's going to continue to be a struggle. Um, residential development mainly approved by municipal growth, uh, but it makes it even harder, you know, for us. And so we have to have capital investment, um, not just to to provide people with basic needs, but for safety concerns. Um, for things like fire, for example. And um, and if we I hope the public recalls we've had numerous conversations about, you know, kind of the the dangerous area that we were we were

064heading towards if we didn't have capital uh, improvements in our water system. >> Yes, sir. >> Um, again, shout out to Megan about the uh, vision vision mission and values. I That was probably one of my favorite parts because it shows the the alignment between staff and and our board. And uh, I want to kind of finish up with just a quick note on UCPS, maybe a question. Have we heard anything back from UCPS staff indicating whether or not the Board of Education may consider the interlocal agreement offer? >> At this time, I've not received any communication on that. >> Okay. Um, well, if we do, please please let us know. >> Yes, sir. >> Um, the interlocal agreement, you know, is obvious obviously something that we discussed at length the other night. And um,

065and we're talking about 3.8 million dollars, so just under 4 million dollars. And and I want to I want to be clear because there's been a lot of I think chatter about the intention behind this interlocal agreement. Um, so the the interlocal agreement is really a result of what we went through last year. >> [snorts] >> And during our joint meeting, um I was I was kind of disappointed by some of the comments that we heard. Um and our joint meeting, some of us were called uh a dictatorship on this board. And the question of trust came up a few times. And I want to make something clear about trust. Trust is something that is hard to earn and easy to lose. And so, with this interlocal agreement, our board feels as though this is

066probably the best way to start building back that trust one step at a time. And it's also a good way to make sure that we are all at least legally on the same page about the intention of these funds. Because these funds are local dollars meant for local teachers and TAs. And I think something else came up during our our joint meeting that was questioned about the um frequency or if interlocal agreements between say a board of commissioners and then the board of education is um a rarity. And it's my understanding that that is not a rarity. This is actually a very common practice throughout the state of North Carolina. >> Yeah, just not uncommon. Yes, sir. >> So, I I wanted to pull I wanted to bring that out. Um but, you know, the

067uh the the terms to the interlocal agreement, I think are very important, too. And you know, these were mentioned um at our joint meeting, but just to go back over these quickly, you know, that these funds are uh to be specifically used for supplement increases for teachers and TAs. And I think there's been at least some confusion out there in the public about what we mean about teachers. And And I think that we we kind of covered that last year when when we went through this this whole thing then. uh because I believe that it was uh Commissioner Merrill and Commissioner Helms here that that were bringing to light that you know, hey, we're talking about classroom teachers, folks that are in front of the children or the students, and then ones that administer grades.

068And I'm not trying to put words in your mouth or I'm trying to paraphrase. >> attendance >> And take attendance. Thank you. Yep. So, I wanted to I wanted to clarify that because I think there's been some confusion about what our intention is. And [clears throat] obviously the TAs, it's my understanding that they have not received anything uh last year in the way of any kind of supplement or bonus. Um and and I think that's important. I think it's important that our board recognizes those TAs. I've [clears throat] got two children that are well um my wife is probably at home watching this and it's going to pain her to to say I've got one child that's rising in the middle school and I've got one in uh elementary school. And I can tell you

069from first-hand experience uh being a a UCPS parent that those TAs are critically important to our schools. >> [cough and clears throat] >> But with all that, the intention is is that it that this sub this uh interlocal agreement, these funds would be directed towards supplement increase for those positions only and not all certified staff. And the reason for that is is listen, we we understand that our certified staff is important. But when you have, you know, trying years, you have to prioritize, you have to make priorities with your budget. And as we understand it as a board, this has been a huge priority of UCPS to try to attack attract and retain good educators. Good classroom teachers, yes, ma'am. >> [clears throat] >> Um the second term, you know, and this again can be

070negotiated assuming that we get some partnership from UCPS. Um but that these funds would be dispensed immediately or within a time frame that's agreed upon by our two boards because we do understand that TAs may be under a slightly different, you know, uh pay scale. And so there might have to be some things that are created for them. Um and then the third was that these funds are local again local dollars intended for local teachers and TAs, but they will be they will not be used for unfunded state mandates, for say raises or you know, state required bonuses. That these are meant to be in addition to those that we're accounting for with local dollars. And that they should also not be used for redirects. Um I appreciate what you said about the SROs because

071[clears throat] again, that's something that we've heard a lot of confusion about. The SROs will be funded. Um and I think that that goes back I think you did a great job um in all of our budget discussion in talking about how that goes back to transparency. Because right now the SRO funding is coming from the county budget. >> Yes. >> But this is a you it's it's it's a school function. And so, you know, if we didn't have schools, we'd we wouldn't have SROs. And so when we start looking at budgeting for for uh prior or for um for uh next year and the year after, then it helps us have greater transparency about where these dollars are actually coming from and where they're going to. Um so, going back to uh Vice Chair

072Helms's uh uh suggestion about a line item budget, um I I want to say this, that you know, I've been a little disappointed with what information we did receive from from UCPS. Um you know, we had uh we had requested some information including a line item budget. And uh if I recall, I think that the communication that you and I had was is I wanted a line item budget down to the toilet paper expense. Um and I I know it sounds kind of funny, but I I really wasn't being funny because I I think that when you're given big buckets, okay, and that's what our board has been presented with. We've been presented I've seen data from four pages to seven or eight pages, but anyway you slice it, we've been given less than 10

073pages of data from what I've seen personally. And we're [clears throat] looking at approving here in just a few minutes I think a budget that's 388 pages. >> Yes, I believe so. >> And and that's been probably slimmed down a little bit, you know, from all the work that staff has has done. I've seen budgets since I've been on the board that's been bigger >> Yes. >> than that in in the page content. So, just under 400 pages. So, I want to bring that up for comparison, but I want to make this point because I think that this this applies to this UCPS discussion, but it also applies to what we do too to a lower degree. And that is is that when you're spending public money there's no such thing as private finances. And

074and I also want to say this that you know, the request for the line item budget that's based off a general statute. So, North Carolina general statute allows this board to request info that we as a board deem necessary for our own decision-making. And that's not what UCPS or any of our educational partners deem necessary that we need. This is what our board would deem necessary that we need. And I want to take a minute. I want to read some of this general statute for the record. So, the general statute comes from general statute 1-15C-429. And the title of that is approval of budget, submission to county commissioners, commissioners actions, and the budget. And this was uh effective, I believe, June 30th, 2023, still in effect today. Subsection C says, and I quote, "The Board

075of Commissioners shall have full authority to call for and the Board of Education shall have the duty to make available to the Board of of County Commissioners, upon request, all books, records, audit reports, and other information bearing on the financial operation of the local school administrative unit." Now, what I want to point out is two words here. So, uh in this this um general statute, it says that the Board of Education shall have the duty. Um that is not the choice. That's not the recommendation. That is the duty, meaning that they have to comply. To make available to the Board of County Commissioners, upon request, another small but key word, all. All books, all records, audit reports, and other information bearing on the financial operation. All. And I wanted to read that because I agree

076with Vice Chair Helms. I do believe that from moving forward, we need a a line item budget from UCPS. We need better coordination from the financial department there, especially. But my suggestion is that we add on to that. Because I think that our board also needs to see not what we've been given regarding the local funding request coming from local dollars, but we also need to see federal, and we need to see state. All right? Because UCPS specifically gets funding from three sources. They get federal funding, they get state funding, and they get local funding. And not even as a Board of commissioners, but simply as a taxpayer in this county, I pay federal, state, and local taxes, and I believe that it's only fair that we have full transparency of those dollars. And so

077my ask is, in addition to line item budget for local, that we also request, um and uh and we have that authority per statute, that would they supply us with federal and state budgetary information as well. >> Okay. >> Because I haven't seen a whole lot of that in this budget cycle. >> [clears throat] >> So uh with that, that's all that I've got on the budget. I know that uh that probably took a little bit longer than what you what we were all expecting, but but I think it's important, okay? And uh Mr. Kay, do we need a vote on that uh request for a line item budget for future budget cycles? >> Uh if you wish to make that request, I think a a full vote of the board would be appropriate. >>

078Okay. Got a question. >> Commissioner Merrill. >> Commissioner Helms, I um fully agree with everything you have outlined, and I think the broken trust that we observed last year, um We learned a lot by state statutes, um what can and cannot be done. And um it was disappointing. It's been gravely disappointing, especially um spending eight years of my life serving on the board of education, and I want I want to make two comments. When I was on the board education, we knew what our tax rate was. And we could estimate year over year what the county was going to be able to provide Union County Public Schools in the next next budget cycle. It was not brain science. So, when we meet and we let them know that their tax rate is going to yield

079them an additional 8.8 million dollars, but they go out into the public and have the audacity to say that they're underfunded and that they needed an additional 14.6 million dollars, is is truly just um I wouldn't even be able to look in the mirror if if I made that kind of comment knowing I was getting 8.8 million dollars above and beyond the previous year with my enrollment declining. Um but I think the chair and the vice chair and the board, you know, 4 plus years ago, it was very easy to estimate how much more we were going to be able to work with and to work with the superintendent to know how we could um do redirects and then work within the guardrails of how much more we knew we were getting. So, um I

080think it's very disingenuous for any board member to say that their budget was underfunded when they have consistently gotten more and more and more year over year and enrollment is has been going down down down. Um so and knowing that the superintendent and the superintendent communicating to the county manager that in order to get the 14.6, they would have to increase their tax rate one penny and it was communicated back to us they did not want to do that. So stop going in the public and saying you're underfunded, we needed 14.6 and the 8.8 was not enough. I mean, you either want a tax increase or you don't want a tax increase. One penny increase would give you the 14.6, so you're either managing the budget or you're not managing the budget, but we cannot

081do this from this dais. Um and then the allegation that a board member doesn't know what occurs with the lottery money when their board signature >> [snorts] >> is on that throughout the year saying that they they agree on the lottery money going to pay down their debt. But then the board saying we don't have any debt. So it it's it's been interesting to to be on this side of it and [snorts] um to know that they may or may not know as much about their budget as they should. It's disappointing. The second thing um that I want to piggyback on your request but and that's why I wanted to speak before we voted on anything is when this all came to light last October when we found out that the teachers had not received

082their supplement increase. Um we specifically asked to see how many positions were being funded with local dollars. And what the public may or may not realize is that even though teachers and the superintendent and everyone are state employees and their pay scale begins with a state framework. They're using local dollars to supplement different positions such as the superintendent's salary. And so we asked for that document last fall. How many positions are being funded partially or fully with Union County tax dollars? Because we knew that they had created positions within the framework of being a state entity and most of their funding does come from the state and then it's local and then it's federal in that order. But because some positions are not deemed necessary based on student enrollment the school system has gotten accustomed

083to saying, "Well, we want that position." So we want that position, the state says it's not necessary, so we're going to use local dollars to pay for that that position. So, we asked for that document and we don't get it. >> [clears throat] >> And then our staff had to hunt down the information from Raleigh so that this board would know what positions are being funded with Union County tax dollars because they wouldn't give us the information. So, I would like to add that you know, um Commissioner Christina Helms, you know, has asked for um a light line item budget. You have asked for state, local, and federal and I want to specifically have a report of how many salaries are partially and fully funded by Union County tax dollars. And I would also like

084to consider how much the Board of Education can use to give the superintendent and others supplement increases with Union County tax dollars that we never know anything about. And I heard there was a very big one last year. >> Commissioner Merrill, for for clarification, you're looking for that annual type report for the funded positions between federal, state, and local? >> And and in the local when it's dealing with money we're sending them how much money is going to what position because a stipend would be partial a piggyback to the state salary a stipend. And I would like to know how much how how much are we funding? Fully or partially? Because I can't remember what percentage, but someone recently came out how much of their budget is funding central office. >> All right, any other

085um any other discussion on that? I kind of lost my place here. >> [laughter] >> Um >> I I will make a motion in just a second, but I do have a comment after the the vote. >> Yes, ma'am. Vice Chair Helms, can >> All right, so and Mr. Kay, please let me know if I need to make any corrections or any additions or subtractions, okay? So, I'm going to make a motion that staff go ahead and approach UCPS and request a line item budget from UCPS that includes federal, state, local dollars and also includes any portion of employees that are funded fully or partially from local tax dollars. >> Uh Vice Chair Helms, can I make a friendly amendment to your motion? >> I would just like to include um with the line item

086budget including state, local, and federal uh pursuant to General Statute 115 C-429 subsection C. I'd like to include that in the motion. >> Yes, sir. >> Okay. Mr. Kay, is that satisfy our requirement here? >> Yes. >> Commissioner Merrill, does that capture your [clears throat] concerns? >> I'm not convinced that it does because on the local we need to know year year over year what they have used local tax dollars for to fund salaries and stipends. So, maybe do you do you think this covers it and that we would get that update with each budget request? >> My interpretation of the meaning of the motion is to ask for that for this budget year as it as the motion stands now. It sounds like Commissioner Merrell is asking for some additional information perhaps going backwards,

087perhaps going forwards a certain number of years, but you want to you want to look at the trend line in in terms of how that funding is used for positions. >> or budget cycle period. >> Well, I would like this year and then budget cycle going forward. And continuously. >> Okay. >> I agree with that. >> Do it Can I Does it Does that satisfy your question? Do you Do you mean the FY 2027 budget? Okay. We're still in FY 2026. So, I just want to make sure that we're FY 2027. >> was sent over last year. >> I just want to make sure I I I understood. >> I'm good. I'm good. I'm good. >> Okay. Um Commissioner I'm sorry, Vice Chair Helms, do you have anything else to that you want to say

088on that? >> Well, let's take the vote and then I I'd like to make another comment as well. >> Okay, sure. All right. So, Board, we've got a motion. Um all those in favor of the motion say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? >> No. >> Okay. >> And just for public information, at our joint meeting, I did ask the chair to put on their July agenda that to vote on our staff of our strategic our strategy and innovation team to come over and do their department. Um, so I did ask that to go to a vote to UCPS and just for information, this is going to be a little bit different than an audit that they are required to perform. Um, their audit gets it's number to number, so if the federal government says,

089you know, $10,000 has to be spent on X, they go in and say yes, $10,000 was spent on X. This goes and back and make sure that there's not duplicate spending on something, just any wasteful or funds that can be redirected into another area. >> All right, so uh, I guess we can circle back to the budget then. Any Any questions for our county manager regarding the um, the budget, the FY2027 budget? >> I guess I I I do want to ask this particular question. So, um, because last year we had our joint meeting. Um, and then staff worked, you know, staff to staff worked together and then, you know, we learned some things in the fall and some conversations that were made that the 8.8 wasn't, you know, in staff to staff conversations that

090the 8.8 8.8 was not going to be enough, that they want really wanted the 14.6. Um, so I want to know for this budget, has there been any staff to staff conversation that what we have told them their tax rate would give them this year? Have they been agreeable to that and they understand the framework of their own budget or they or they still saying that it's not enough this year? And [clears throat] has there been another conversation you know, that they would have to increase their tax rate to get what they want or they're working within their tax rate? >> Certainly. Uh so yes, it was was communicated to them what the the penny value would yield and what we anticipated that would that would bring in for education as a whole and then

091UCPS. Um we also communicated what the minimum amount would be necessary based on that state formula as well. Um what we were told and this is, you know, we're going back to I'm I'm not going to try and justify the schools' request. What we were told is that the um unfunded state mandated uh decisions and items from the possible state budget, which hasn't really been adopted yet, um were going to be more than what they could absorb within those funding amounts and therefore they would need more dollars. That's what was communicated to us. Um now again, we did not uh talk about additional tax rate at the time. Uh we just talked about what we had and what we were anticipating would go towards education and that was the extent of our conversation. >> Did

092UCPS staff indicate that because they needed unfunded they needed more dollars for unfunded state mandates are they working with the state to get more state dollars to cover unfunded state mandates, or are they solely relying on Union County to give them more money to cover unfunded state mandates? >> My understanding is that they were having communications with their legislators about ways to you know, to offset those um those needs. Um they also did indicate that they were going to look for internal ways, so redirects, whatever their language is that they use for how they might make up some of those funds. Um but they were also very clear that they felt like they would not be have they would not have enough to make it all up. That would have to be some additional local

093dollars to potentially make that up. Um and and that's my understanding of what they believed at the time. >> Did they indicate that they would use their seven or eight million dollars in fund balance to help fund their unfunded state mandates with their fund map balance that they squirrelled away? >> Um my recollection is and this was not communicated to us directly, but I believe in some of their their committee meetings they may have brought up that they you could use fund balance, but obviously that would bring them down significantly with what they would like to have or feel comfortable with having in their fund balance. They didn't really communicate that to us, but I do believe they did say that to their committee members. >> So, I I would just end with this note

094that the state has cut their budget because their enrollment has declined. So, the state has given themselves in their formula the ability to give less when enrollment comes down. But, they've also created a formula where local county government has to give more year over year even if enrollment declines. And I just don't know if Union County tax dollars especially given the state-mandated reval that we all just went through last year, I don't know that we can fund all the unfunded state mandates. At some point, if the state is not going to fund public education, then I don't I don't know what straw it's going to take to break the camel's back, but we're giving more. We're giving lots more that doesn't even include SROs in all the schools, and behavioral health, and everything else that

095we fund that's not in their budget. Was it about 8 million, 9 million? 9 million. >> Uh now, you know, 2.7 has been moved, so it'll be about 6 million. >> Mhm. >> But, it was just shy of 9 million. >> So, I think at some point, especially given so many positions are being funded with local dollars, the state mandates, the the they need to work with the state to get that. Because we're funding a lot more than our share right now. And so, I'll just leave you that with that. Mr. Chair. >> Thank you, Commissioner Merrell. And I you know, I would just say too that again state formula has to be revisited. I mean that's that's a big priority. >> It's outdated. >> It it Well, yeah, absolutely. It is. >> Mr. Balcom.

096>> Yes, sir. Thank you, Chairman. Mr. Chairman, uh I just want to make this point and any of my board members correct me if I'm wrong, but Union County is already number six out of 115 districts in the state in general donations. Isn't that correct? >> Not donations, but in K-12 in K-12 funding. For public education, which would you know, also include include our charter schools. >> Right. And you know, we've we've had some discussion about the interlocal agreement and a little bit of pushback with that. Um I think I think the interlocal agreement actually sets up guardrails. And you know, some are saying it's just as jeopardizing our friendship as board members. I think it actually protects the friendships because we entered this agreement knowing where the money's going. And and we are truly

097prioritizing the teachers. So it's sort of like setting that money aside and said, "Okay, >> [snorts] >> this is already earmarked for the teachers." We all agree this need to go to the teachers. So I think I think this interlocal agreement might actually add some protection to the friendships and the relationships. Our one gentleman came up to me and said, "You guys need a Y'all need a smokey room somewhere just to go in there and fight it out and then come out and have the agreement made." But I don't necessarily think that's it. I think this agreement sort of becomes that room where Okay, here's here's what we all agreed to. Here's what we prioritize. Let's set this money aside. Let's earmark this money for the teachers and everything is spelled out nice and clean.

098So, that's sort of my comments with the agreement with the interlocal agreement. I think it's just a positive move going forward. >> And I'll add to that that, you know, someone promised the teachers last year a $2,000 increase. Um certified staff got the 1,000 and this this is a protection to get the teachers the other thousand and and to include the TAs this time that some somehow disappeared between April and October. >> Yeah, and and I'll just uh I'll say this, you know, as far as the interlocal agreement is concerned, you know, again, if the board chooses um you know, here in a few minutes to to adopt this budget and Mr. Manager, you correct me if I'm wrong, but until we get um that interlocal agreement signed then that $3.8 million intended for our

099teachers and our TAs would be held in contingency. >> Yes, sir. It is held and not provided until there is an agreement signed. >> Thanks, sir. Any other questions for uh our county manager? Okay. Um seeing none, then I'm I'll make the motion that uh we adopt the FY 2027 operating and capital budget ordinance and the associated tax rates and fees. Any discussion on the motion? All those in favor, say I. >> I. >> Thank you, Board. >> [clears throat] >> Next on our agenda is item 26-341. That is appointments to boards and committees. There are two boards with vacancies for consideration this evening. Uh these vacancies have been advertised in accordance with applicable law. Uh the first board with vacancies is the Agricultural Advisory Committee. Commissioner Balcom. >> [clears throat] >> Chairman Helms. I'm

100going to have to recuse myself on the Agricultural Advisory Committee vote being that my younger brother is an applicant. >> [laughter] >> And believe it or not, he has supported me in the past. So I need to step back on this. >> Mr. K, do we need to vote on that to recuse Commissioner Balcom? >> Yes, if the board could take a vote on recusing. >> So I'll make the motion then that we recuse Commissioner Balcom uh for the vote on the Agricultural Advisory Committee appointments uh at per his request. So >> need to step in the other room? >> I think you're just fine. >> All right, all those in favor of the motion say aye. >> Aye. >> All right. Um all right, so going back to the item, there are three terms

101expiring this month. I'll now entertain a motion for nominations for these three positions and we can take them all at once or one at a time, whatever the preference or will of the board is. >> Chairman Helms, I'd like to make a motion that we approve Hunter Latham, Alex Simpson, and Travis Starns to the Agriculture Advisory Committee. >> Okay. Thank you, Vice Chair Helms. So we got a motion, any discussion on that motion? All right, all those in favor of the motion say aye. >> Aye. >> All right. Um Okay, so we can Wait, we can Welcome back, Commissioner Balcom. >> [clears throat] [laughter and gasps] >> All right, so the second board with vacancies for consideration is uh the Region F uh Aging Advisory Committee. This committee has two vacant positions, one delegate and

102one alternate. Again, I can take the nominations uh for all at once um if we name the nominee for each particular vacancy slot. And the two slots are delegate and two alternate. >> Chairman Helms. I'd like to make a motion that we approve Patricia Kinley as the delegate and Alida Galisha, sorry if I mispronounce your name, as the alternate for the Region F Aging Advisory Committee. >> Okay. Thank you, Vice Chair Helms. So, we've got a motion. Um any discussion? All right, all those in favor of the motion say aye. >> Aye. >> All right. [sighs] So, now we are now down to uh comments and I will recognize our county manager for his comments this evening. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I actually do have a couple of comments. First off, I want to

103thank the board for your support of the budget. Uh this says as the sheriff said, this has been one of the easier budgets that we've had, not because we don't have challenges, but because of the board's clear direction on what you want and how we've been able to work through with staff and and accomplish that. I want to thank all of the staff members for all of their hard work. There was a lot of work that went into this. Um and and thankfully, we were able to find ways to fund things that were necessary. And and I also want to make a little little fun here. Um you mentioned the mission and vision statement and I told Megan I was going to say this and she didn't believe me. Um >> [clears throat] >> you

104know, I I'm I'm not that kind of person where I think that way. So, I I told Megan that I thought our mission and vision statement should be just do good stuff. >> [laughter] >> And and she said that's not that's we need a little bit more teeth than that. And so I listened to her and we came up with something which I think really does resonate with the board's goals and priorities. So I just want to say thank you very much. Y'all have a good night. >> Uh thank you, sir. I appreciate that and I mean I would agree. I mean doing good stuff is is good, too. Um >> [laughter] >> but I I do appreciate um that we have it spelled out in our in our budget and and just for the

105record um the vision mission and values were integrity, transparency, service, and teamwork. So again, thank you for that. All right. So next item is commissioner comments and I'll start with Commissioner Wedra. >> Uh thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um I want to thank the uh department heads and the staff for being good stewards of the taxpayers' money. And um Manager Matthews, thank you for that huge budget binder. Uh it was uh surprisingly easily digestible, actually. So thank you. Even I could understand it. Yeah. >> [laughter] >> Um uh just one other thing. This morning I had an opportunity to attend a ribbon cutting for the new Waxhaw Learning Center. And uh it's a really wonderful addition to the community and I encourage residents to visit and and use it. Um and a special thank you to

106the Waxhaw Board of Commissioners for funding it and to the staff and to Parks and Rec Director Dina Sabinski for making it happen. And that's all I have. >> Thank you, sir. Uh we'll start down on the far end there, Commissioner Balcom. >> [clears throat] >> Thank you, Chairman Helms. Uh just want to thank the staff and my fellow board members for all the time and work they put into making everything happen in Union County. Um making Union County continue to be a great place to live. And um truly that's all I have. Just wish everyone a a good evening. >> Thank you, Commissioner Bolkum. Commissioner Merrell. >> [clears throat] >> I want to reiterate how much we appreciate um our staff, our budget team, our county manager, um and all leadership. Um you make

107this so much easier for us to be able to digest um that elephant of a budget. And um what an amazing job all of you have done. And um and I can't thank you enough for um working so well with your team and this board. So, I I think it's a great budget. Um I look forward to, you know, moving towards FY27 and putting putting to use um the important things that you you have listed and worked with our board. So, thank you very much. We are coming up on uh July 4th. And I was in Washington, D.C. last week on business. And everywhere you go, it's a mayor, you know, um everyone's getting very excited about our 250th um birthday. And I just want to thank Liz and your team for doing such an

108amazing job with outlining um really great activities. When I saw the art competition, it just warmed my heart. So, we've worked together on art competitions in the past. So, I'm really excited about seeing um the artwork that gets submitted from Union County. And I hope um if you're not already on getting the weekly newsletter so that you can see all of these events and the times, dates, locations, and for that and for other things, I just want to encourage um um citizens to please sign up and make sure that you are aware of all of these celebrations and I want to encourage everyone to be safe over July 4th. Be safe on the road, be safe on the water, be safe in the sun. So, I just want to wish everyone a wonderful um happy

109um July 4th and we look forward to seeing everyone when they get back. >> Thank you, Commissioner Merrill. Vice Chair Helms. >> Well, I'm going to echo everyone else. Um our staff does such an amazing job. And Megan, thank you for being so eloquent. >> [laughter] >> We appreciate that. Um our staff does work incredibly hard. They um take time to field all of our calls and I know there's quite a few of them. Um no matter how trivial it seems, um they are always willing to um say explain things when we have questions. So, we are deeply appreciative of that and we um like to thank all the speakers tonight that came out. Um continue to pray for rain for this county because we are still in a drought. And as a farmer's wife,

110it is very hard right now to pray for rain when you're trying to get crops in from the field. Please pray for rain on this field, but not that one. So, um they say there's no pleasing farmers sometimes and that is a really a true statement, but we still are in need of rain. Um Sunday is Father's Day. So, happy Father's Day to all the daddies out there. Um I'm after losing mine, it's it's especially meaningful. So, if you still have your daddy, love him and hug him and tell him how much you love him. Um also, happy 4th of July because we won't be back until after the holiday. And something that I've noticed on social media since um we have the country is experiencing a lot of visitors for the soccer tournaments going

111on. Um how great this country is. Now, we have some hiccups. We have some hiccups, some things that aren't the greatest in the whole wide world. But overall, this is a pretty darn fantastic country that we live in. >> All the other countries love it. >> [laughter] >> Exactly. And um so even if something isn't exactly up to what we think it should be, we still have a lot of things that we need to be thankful for. And so and I'm very thankful that we are in the country that we're in and that we're able to express our own opinions, whether people agree with us or not. Um it is one of the things that makes this country so outstanding. So, um happy 4th to everyone. Please be safe and um I also need to

112give credit to Liz on social media. There was um firework safety. Um so, um 4th of July is also a time of a lot of adult beverages being consumed. So, please be smart when you're um working with fireworks and you've had a few adult beverages. Um So, with that, that's all I have. >> Thank you, Vice Chair Helms. Um yeah, I'll again can extend my thanks to staff. Um you know, I appreciate all the all the work that you guys have done on the budget. Um again, continues to be a a very good strength of our staff and and that's important. It's vitally important uh to county operations. Uh want to say thank you to uh Sheriff Cathy and Chief Underwood who are here with us uh this evening. Um I appreciate uh them coming

113and um giving us a little bit of an update. Um and um and you know, for all of our staff, thank you for for what you guys do, for being here. For those that that came um and spoke tonight, thank you for for your attendance here with us. It certainly means a lot. Um yeah, and I I was going to make some comments, too. I mean, obviously, you know, 4th of July is upon us. I I mean, I kind of I prefer Independence Day myself. I like to call it Independence Day because you know, well, that's what it is. Um and we're you know, we're coming up on our 250th anniversary of the signing of Declaration of the Declaration of Independence and you know, we've got an opportunity um this year, I think, to probably

114more so than what uh I've had in my lifetime, considering the fact I'm only 25. >> [laughter] >> Um but but I think we've got an opportunity to really, you know, reflect on on the courage and the conviction that this made made made that signing possible. And you know, if you look through the Declaration, you're going to see the famous, you know, words that we can probably all recite by heart and and you're going to see where it says, you know, we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal. And and those are very powerful words uh that no doubt have inspired, you know, many of us and and you know, generations. Uh but I think that far fewer folks really recognize the final sentence of the Declaration of Independence. Um

115and that's where the signers stated uh and for the support of this Declaration with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence we mutually pledge to each other our lives our fortunes and our sacred honor. And you know, that that statement, you know, has resonated with me um here >> [sighs] >> uh especially lately as we approach uh the 4th um because those were not empty words. Uh the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence knew that they were committing an act of treason uh against the most powerful empire on Earth at that time. And many of them they lost their wealth, they lost their homes, [snorts] some of them were imprisoned, their family suffered hardship, and some, you know, paid the ultimate sacrifice, the ultimate price. And they understood that freedom is

116never free and that liberty requires great sacrifice. And And I would just say that you know, as we celebrate um Independence Day, the 250th anniversary with our family and with our friends, and as we attend these events that uh are happening, you know, all over our county, our state, um you know, our nation. Um as we watch fireworks, as we hold our families close, I would just I think we should honor um by example or honor their example uh by recommitting ourselves to the principles which our nation was founded. And that's faith, freedom, personal responsibility, and even self-government. Uh the Declaration was not merely a statement of independence, it was a pledge of commitment. 250 years later, the question is whether we are willing to renew that commitment to preserve, protect, and strengthen our great

117nation for future generations. So, um so again, I would encourage you all to to to reflect on that. Um it's it's certainly a a big day for us come July 4th, 2026 as Americans. Uh so that's all I have um again, I want to thank uh thank all of our staff for your efforts. Um we did some good stuff tonight. Um we you know, a lot of the stuff that was on consent wasn't really talked about. Um we we we approved a couple of items there. Uh one of them was for New Salem Fire Department. Um And sort of assisting them with getting their new fire station up off the ground. Um at least uh with some documentation that they needed. So, uh so again, kudos to staff. Thank you to my colleagues on the

118board. Uh that concludes my comments and that also concludes our regular meeting. Um and with that, I'll make a motion to adjourn. All those in favor of the motion, say I. >> I. >> All right. Thank you all.