Harnett County studies tight 2026-27 budget

Harnett County Commissioners reviewed a $215.1 million proposed budget shaped by rapid growth, reduced federal and state support, rising school costs and staffing demands, forcing leaders to scale back expansion requests while relying on fund balance spending to maintain services and school funding.

The budget includes $215,151,197 in the General Fund, $53,604,500 for Harnett Regional Water and $9,911,210 for solid waste.

To balance the budget, they must appropriate $8,604,688 from the fund balance, which is an improvement of $16,226,904 from last year.

“This year, those [public] requests totaled over $13.25 million. However, due to limited available funding in the General Fund, we had to make some very difficult decisions. We were only able to recommend $4,545,821 in expansion requests, about 34.3% of what was asked for. While we couldn’t fund everything, we prioritized the most essential needs, including $2.27 million for county departments and $276,961 for Central Carolina Community College,” County Manager Brent Trout writes in the budget presentation.

The county finance director clarified that Harnett County Schools requested $39,995,293 for current expense local appropriations, $5,500,000 in contingency for low-wealth funding, and $8,283,086 for current expense expansion. Together, these items total $53,778,379.

The County Manager’s Recommended Budget includes the same $39,995,293 for current expense local appropriations, along with $4,052,686 in contingency for low-wealth funding and $2,000,000 for current expense expansion. This brings the recommended total to $46,047,979.

The difference between the school request and the county’s ability to cover leaves a $7,730,400 funding gap.

The school district must cover $1.15 million in charter school costs from enrollment growth and over $4 million to boost teacher supplements.

The 2027 Recommended Budget allocates $6 million to debt service for Highland and Career and Technical Education (CTE) High Schools. Construction for Highland High School is estimated at $140 million, and for the new CTE High School at $65 million. The debt service fund will receive $17 million from Harnett County. It makes $2 million available for Harnett County Schools’ expansion.

The budget includes $1,892.53 in per-pupil funding, an increase of $82.13. Harnett County schools must share funds with charter schools per student. Plus, it has $1.4 million for maintenance projects.

The county budget sets aside $4,052,686 in contingency, if needed, to replace the loss of low-wealth funding. This is a reduced amount compared to last year’s contingency.

Commissioner Barbara McKoy said they had done their best for the schools but needed to move cautiously before spending more money or asking taxpayers for more money.

The budget maintains the property tax rate at .591 cents, but residents could still see higher tax bills because property revaluation increased assessed values.

Commissioner Matt Nicol wondered if funding for nonprofit programs at $200,000 was possible because the support from state and federal partners was once 50% and is now down to 30%.

McKoy said she believed in funding nonprofits, but they needed to evaluate the budget first.

County Manager Brent Trout said some of the nonprofits formerly supported by the state and federal government could benefit from local support, especially the elderly.

Nicol said the county absorbed about $4 million from the lack of state support. It evaluates to two pennies on the current budget. “This is going to be a very tight, tight budget season.”

Chairman Duncan Jaggers proposed adding a discussion on the budget before the public hearing at the next meeting.

Several apprehensions appear in the budget.

With reliance on fund balance spending, there is concern about long-term sustainability.

Medicaid revenue is down 30%, and other limited funds are not as high as they used to be.

The budget reflects strain due to rapid growth. Library branches faced staff shortages, burnout, safety issues, program overcrowding, and aging infrastructure. Requests cited high demand, long rural travel, and poor broadband.

Harnett County expects strong revenue growth from property taxes, which are expected to rise about 30%, from about $93 million to $120.6 million. Sales tax revenue is expected to increase 9%. The General Fund budget grew about 7% to about $215.1 million.

They improved long-term planning through the Capital Improvements Program, strategic planning, and performance management systems. Departments were required to explain new spending requests, and expansion items were separated from continuation costs for clearer accountability.

Libraries and recreation received growth investments. The budget proposes more staff for libraries due to increased attendance and program needs. They plan a county bookmobile to serve rural residents living more than 10 miles from a library, early literacy programs, digital literacy support, and facility upgrades.

Parks and Recreation received funding increases for maintenance, trail repairs, equipment purchases, and seasonal staffing to support population growth and expanded facilities.

The next meeting is May 18 at 6 p.m.

May 12, 2026

Stephanie M. Sellers

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