Staff costs create largest spending increases in town budget

In Town Manager Howard Tipton’s recommended budget for fiscal year 2024, out of 18 lines of general fund expenditures, 13 show increases from the adopted fiscal 2023 budget, with seven of them increasing by double-digit percentages. 

As to why, most of the increases stem from one factor: people. 

Tipton said investments in fire and police personnel, as well as general town employees, make up over 85% of the town’s expenditures. 

“The investment in people is by far the single largest cost increase that we’ve had,” Tipton said. “It’s about being competitive and retaining the exceptional talent that we have.” 

Insurance was also responsible for a substantial increase, according to Tipton. This includes property and casualty insurance but also employee health insurance costs. 

Budget Manager Sandi Henley said many departments’ expenditures — such as Town Manager, Finance and Support Services — are around 80% personnel pay and benefits.

The table below shows how town operating expenditures have grown over the past seven years.

To make sense of some of those numbers, Henley explained the changes behind three of the largest increases during that period.

Of course, not all departments are up in spending. The Town Manager’s office has $510,332 budgeted for FY 2024, down from $997,276 in FY 2018.  Henley said the change comes from the Support Services department being included in the Town Manager’s budget that year, as well as a salary for an assistant town manager position. From the adopted FY 2023 budget to FY 2024, the office’s budget is planned to decrease by 16%.

The first public hearing on the fiscal year 2024 budget will take place Sept. 11.

Parks and Recreation

Prior to 2021, the Parks and Recreation budget was split into two separate budget lines. The following uses the combined budget lines for years prior to 2021. Parks and Recreation saw a 46% increase from 2018 to 2024, from $283,251 to $414,085. This includes a 32% increase from 2023, when the budget was $313,345. Henley said aside from usual operating costs, this increase also comes from the additional work and operating expenses related to the Town Center Green, as that project will be unveiled in November.

Information Technology

Information Technology was the largest increase spanning across recent years, jumping 78% from 2018 to 2024 and 23% from 2023 to 2024. In 2018, the IT budget was $655,209, which grew to $947,280 in 2023 and is estimated to be $1,167,806 in 2024. Two new IT positions were introduced in the 2024 fiscal year budget. Henley said the department experiences increasing costs for maintenance, support and licensing for software every year.

Finance

Henley said the Finance budget is expected to decrease by the September budget meeting. As of now, the anticipated budget for 2024 is $1,069,485. The department anticipated needing to include retirement payouts, though one employee recently decided not to retire. Additionally, the new position of grant coordinator contributed to the 33% budget increase from 2023 to 2024. In 2018, the department’s budget was $676,660 and went up to $804,854 in 2023.