UNDERSTANDING CHANGE THROUGH POLICY

MUNICIPAL VS. COUNTY

Municipal/City:

The city operates under a charter that grants it power and authority by the state’s statutes and constitution. Its role is to protect citizens and provide residents of the area with urban type services -- water, sewer, police, streets, transportation, recreation, garbage collection/recycling, land use planning, and fire protection. The major source for city funds is ad valorem property tax and local option sales taxes. User fees for services such as water and sewer support the infrastructure and the costs of the systems themselves. The budgets must always remain balanced.

County:

The county provides access to needed services - public and mental health care, schools, libraries, support to senior citizens and children in need. Their main source of revenue is property taxes (the only tax they can charge), Intergovernmental transfers are generally the next largest source. Education and human services are traditionally the largest expenditures amounting to nearly half of most budgets. In North Carolina counties are required to build and maintain public school buildings. Human services include items such as mental health, public health, and social services.

Counties also spend a significant amount of their budget on public safety (Sheriff’s Department, volunteer fire departments and Emergency Medical Services), debt services (to pay off existing bonds for capital facilities), and general government operations. To set budget they decide on what to implement and the costs, then decide how much to raise property taxes to cover expenditures. Finally, they set a public hearing for citizens before adopting the budget

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There are two types of services that North Carolina counties provide: required (mandates) and optional (to be nice). “Mandated services include provision of a register of deeds, Sheriff’s Department, public and mental health care, social services and school construction. Counties can also offer other services that are not required by law, but are asked for by the citizens. Examples of services that are not required are public libraries, water and sewer systems, and parks and recreation programs and facilities.” Unincorporated roads and streets, water and sewer and building inspections for unincorporated areas are also county responsibilities.

Other offices:

The sheriff and register of deeds have independent authority to adopt specific policies for their departments. Independent local boards hold responsibility for their areas - alcoholic beverage control, elections, mental health, public health and social services. They appoint directors and have authority to make local policies. School boards are separately elected and have responsibility for education policies and school system budgets. Taxing citizens for revenue for these falls solely on the board of county commissioners.