At a Monday night meeting, Spring Lake Town Manager Jon Rorie presented commissioners with an initial proposed budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year. The town aims to make preparations for the impending budget shortfall Spring Lake will experience due to recent sales tax collection changes.
Sales tax collection moved from a per capita model to an ad valorem model in early May, and Rorie said that the municipality stands to lose about $1.4 million in revenue in the coming fiscal year. To combat this shortfall, Spring Lake has implemented budget reduction goals totaling about $400,000.
Rorie said that town leadership arrived at $400,000 because the town recently underwent a revaluation wherein property values increased by about 60%.
“That is going to generate more in ad valorem tax to take the place of the loss in sales tax,” Rorie said. “But it’s not enough.”
Town officials were tasked with reducing costs within their respective departments to meet this $400,000 goal collectively. To illustrate this process, Rorie used Spring Lake Police Department’s budget reduction efforts, explaining that the department was able to meet their portion of the goal (about $125,000) by making changes to staffing and administrative work.
Rorie explained that because the budget for the coming fiscal year is driven by state statute, the town must adhere to a strict timeline. According to N.C. State statute, he will be required to submit a balanced budget to the governing board by June 1 and it must be adopted no later than July 1.
The combination of these budget reduction goals and the increase in ad valorem tax collection due to the town’s revaluation will help Spring Lake offset the losses they expect in the coming fiscal year.
The next Spring Lake Board of Commissioners meeting will be held at 6 p.m., Monday, June 2 at Spring Lake Town Hall, 300 Ruth St.
