Waynesville may raise taxes after department heads speak out

Apr. 20—The usual plodding journey toward a tight budget and minimal tax hike hurtled off the rails Wednesday when Waynesville's police and fire chiefs declared the town's conservative fiscal approach was undermining the morale of their departments and their ability to protect citizens.

The public works director and recreation director then piled on. That forced town council into considering a possible hefty property tax increase to pay for capital requests not included in three draft budget options.

Now the town council is preparing to take another look at requests its department heads say have been unmet for years, and debating whether the most urgent can be accomplished without a large tax increase.

The twist to what is traditionally a staid public workshop began when a clearly frustrated Fire Chief Joey Webb warned that lack of funding over the years left him worried about the condition of the department as he approaches retirement. Police Chief David Adams then added his concerns, with both men warning that the tight budgets not only left their departments poorly equipped, but undermined morale.

Webb has been the town's fire chief since 2008.

"Sixteen years, I have been asking for the same things," said Webb, who plans to retire next spring. "We have been successful in some things. But I am really concerned how I am leaving the department when I leave. The number of personnel, the equipment, the shape it is in. I got an engine back today that has been out of service for two months, and they still didn't get the oil leak fixed. It has to go back."

Public Services Director Jeff Stines and Parks and Recreation Director Luke Kinsland then expressed their concerns and frustrations.

Back to the drawing board

After hearing from the four department heads, town council asked that they submit a request of their top capital needs, ranked in order of importance. Council members plan to consider those requests and whether to work them into the town's budget proposal at a second workshop Thursday.

The council had been presented with three budget options by town staff at the beginning of Wednesday's budget workshop. One option called for no property tax increase while the other two options had increases of 1 cent and 2 cents per $100 of property valuation, respectively.

A majority of council members appeared to favor a no-tax-increase budget, but Council Member Anthony Sutton said he was willing to consider one of the tax hike options if it helped increase the proposed 1% cost-of-living increase for town employees to 2%.

Then Webb spoke up.

The fire department responded to 3,423 incidents in 2023, which was an almost 8% increase from 2022. Webb said the increased workload was taking a toll on the department's fire fighters.

"We are going to start losing employees because of the work stress and the load," Webb said. "They are going to go to another department where there is less stress. There are so many needs, and we are not chipping away at that."

Adams said the police department recently lost two police officers. While he is struggling to keep officers despite morale, pay and equipment challenges, the officers have not missed the fact that the town is considering a proposal to add the position of an Environmental Sustainability Director to the town's payroll at a cost of $131,000.

"We are losing people rapidly, but we can find money to provide other positions," Adams said. "They know about the position, and they are very upset. It's very frustrating to keep morale up when that is happening. We are in dire need of a lot of things. We are falling behind."

Between a rock and a hard place

The story is a similar one for Waynesville Public Works and Waynesville Rec Department.

Stines and Kinsland then expressed concerns over lack of funds for needed equipment and unmet needs.

Council Member Jon Feichter said he wished he had heard the concerns of the department heads earlier in the budget workshop.

"That definitely changes the equation for me," Feichter said. "I'm certainly not excited about the possibility of an increase in the property tax. If we are not funding these needs, are we doing our jobs? I need to know what you guys need in this budget year that we are not providing."

Council Member Julia Freeman was adamant about not raising property taxes and said that town council needs to eliminate new programs and use that money to help meet the capital needs of the town's departments.

"I think I have made myself pretty clear," Freeman said. "I would cut down brand new programs to just meet the needs that we have promised these departments over the years. We have not met that need."

Sutton challenged town council to do what it takes to provide adequate services to the town's residents, regardless if it's unpopular.

"I am willing to lose an election to get what our people need," Sutton said.

All department heads submitted a list of capital needs requests to Town Manager Rob Hites to be considered in the 2024-25 fiscal year budget that begins July 1. But only a few appeared to have made the cut and been included in Hites' proposals, as capital expenditures in the three options ranged from $155,000 to $477,000.

"We were not going to recommend things that would simply give you a 5- or 6-cent tax increase," Hites said.

The three budget options presented to town council included an electric police vehicle for the police department while two options included the purchase of bullet proof vests. Council agreed that the $66,000 for the vests should stay in the budget.

Assistant Police Chief Brandon Gilmore said spending $60,000 for the electric patrol vehicle would be a waste of taxpayer money. Gilmore said discussions with multiple other law enforcement agencies found that electric patrol vehicles are not practical.

"They are not even in use. They are currently being used as an administrative vehicle," Gilmore said. "They won't stay charged, and they are having problems with them as police vehicles. For that $60,000, we could buy two (gas powered) cars for the price of one (electric vehicle)."

Two of the budget proposals included a $55,000 electric Ford Lightning pickup for Development Services, but Director Elizabeth Teague said the department could do with something cheaper.

"We don't need a top-of-the-line (vehicle)," Teague said. "If that makes more room in the budget for other departments, we would want that."