WS Chronicle

The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners has started its budget process for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. On Monday, March 10, county staff held their first budget meeting. 

Budget workshops will be held leading up to the presentation of the county manager’s proposed budget in May and the commissioners adopting a budget in June. The budget sets the county’s spending and tax rate, which will begin July 1.  

The 2025-2026 Budget will be the first led by County Manager Shontell Robinson, who was sworn in last year and is the first Black person and first woman to hold the position.  

When discussing the budget with The Chronicle last week, Robinson said they started the process early this year because she wanted to make sure the board had all the information they needed. The County started working on the budget in January and on Monday they will hold the first work session, where commissioners will receive updates on some of the items they discussed earlier this year.  

“In that session we will follow up on some of the items we discussed in January, give them a preview of where we are in terms of revenue and expenditures for the current fiscal year … and give them a preview of the 2026 budget,” Robinson said. 

Cutting Cost  

The first budget meeting began with an overview of the current budget. According to Terry Goodman, county finance director, in 2024 the county didn’t overspend on the budget, but they did spend more than normal, which led to the use of the fund balance dollars to balance the budget.  

Fund balance is the difference between assets and liabilities resulting in a surplus or deficit. In government finance, the retention and use of unassigned fund balance assists in measuring financial health.  

With about four months left in fiscal year 2025, Goodman informed the board of commissioners that it’s looking like they may have to go into the fund balance again. “When we look at how we’re tracking this year, long story short, pretty much like we did in fiscal year 2024,” said Goodman while giving a presentation on the current budget.  

Goodman mentioned sales tax is where the county has come up short in recent years. She said when sales taxes come in over budget, it gives them a cushion to be more flexible and not use the fund balance. “We’re not seeing the cushion being built,” Goodman said.  

The county is also ahead of its spending pace when compared to last year. To date, the county has spent about 51% of the budget; at the same point in time last year, they spent 49%.  

When looking at the next four months, Kyle Wolfe, county budget and management director, said to cut back on fund balance spending, they have asked departments to reduce expenditures for the rest of the fiscal year, which ends June 30. Wolfe said each department has been given a target based on the overall budget to help reach their goal of cutting $10 million in expenditures.  

“If we don’t reduce expenditures, we would be looking at being over revenue by about $14.4 million. Another issue we’re running into is employee health internal service fund; it’s going to require $4.5 million,” Wolfe said.  

Robinson assured the board of commissioners that service for citizens will not be impacted by the cuts. “For a lot of the departments, we’re going to freeze some positions from now until June,” Robinson said.  

“In some areas we may not have as much office supplies, or food and travel, and those kinds of things. Our goal is for services not to be negatively impacted, but certainly some tough decisions had to be made.”  

Education Funding Formula  

Education is always the biggest expenditure in the county budget. Last year education received $190 million or 33% of the general fund, according to the county website.  

Although Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School (WS/FCS) has not made its formal budget request to the county, during the budget meeting for nearly an hour staff discussed school funding, and three different options for funding formulas that they will present to the board for a vote at a later date.  

According to Johnna Sharpe, a N.C. government consultant, while a funding formula has been used for education in the past, the county and the school district have never mutually adopted a funding formula. “There are only about 20 counties, maybe not even that many, to have mutually agreed upon formulas,” Sharpe said.  

The three funding formulas presented to the board are based on different “primary drivers.” Formula A is based on growth in property tax base, Formula B is based on number of students and inflation, and Formula C is based on growth in property tax base and sales tax.  

Sharpe, who has over 30 years of experience working with governments nationwide, encouraged the county to include a reevaluation period in the funding formulas they choose.  

“They all generate different numbers but one of the things you want to consider is a planned reevaluation period when you do the agreement,” Sharpe said.  

While it will be up to the board of commissioners and WS/FCS to decide on which formula to go with, Robinson said her budget will include a funding formula, whether both sides agree or not.  

“My manager’s recommended budget will include a funding formula, whether the schools agree to it or not,” Robinson said. “On the manager’s side, I’m not going to get into any policy decisions. Certainly you (county commissioners) can decide if you want to increase it or decrease based on policy.”  

To ensure that the community is informed and an active participant in the budget process, in addition to the public meetings already scheduled over the next few months, Robinson is holding her own listening sessions. The first listening session was held on Wednesday, March 6, at the Forsyth County Central Library. The next one will be held virtually on March 25 at 6 p.m.  

“While I’ve been with the county for 11 years in different roles, I don’t want to assume I know what people want, so it’s really important for me to hear from residents and make sure I have a good pulse on what the concerns are … At the end of the day we serve the people, they don’t serve us,” Robinson said.  

Here’s a list of upcoming budget workshops and meetings along with dates and times: 

*Commissioners budget workshops – April 7 at 9 a.m. 

*County manager presents proposed budget – May 8 at 2 p.m. 

*Detailed budget presentation – May 15 at 9 a.m. 

*Budget Public Hearing – May 19 at 6 p.m. 

*Budget workshop – May 22 at 9 a.m. (if needed additional workshop on May 20 and June 2) 

*Special Meeting to adopt the budget – June 5 at 2 p.m.  

If the budget isn’t adopted by the board of commissioners on June 5, it will be considered at a later meeting in June, but prior to June 30, as required by the state. All budget workshops and meetings will be held at the Forsyth County Government Center, 201 N. Chestnut St. Meetings can also be streamed on Facebook, YouTube, and the county’s website.