The Rowan County Fiscal Court heard the first reading of the upcoming fiscal year budget, covering county expenses from July 2025 through June 2026. The first draft included some increases to account for general inflation, though there aren’t any tax increases for county residents. Officials broke down the budget piece by piece and elaborated on some funds being allocated for blacktopping, EMS services, and employee raises, as well as where that money comes from. A portion of these funds are being pulled from depletable sources, like ARPA allocations.
Harry Clark, Rowan County Judge Executive, presented the budget during the court’s regular March meeting. He said the forecasted $1.3 million to go toward blacktopping, a notable increase from past years, is expected to give the county much more flexibility.
“That has a direct effect on our potholes and road conditions. And in the past, we have been doing $400,000 plus what we get from the state, and we just can’t keep up. I mean, we have people calling us all the time about getting their roads black-topped. By no means will the additional money we put in blacktop everybody’s road, but at least it’ll get us a little farther along than we have been in the past,” said Clark.
The budget also contributes funds to refurbish a new DOVES of Gateway shelter through opioid abatement funding.
Clark added even disregarding any new projects or expenses in the next fiscal year, inflation has made an impact on consumers as well as county operations.
“Utilities have increased, everything has went up. Our manpower cost has went up. The cost-of-living allowance is 2.9%,” said Clark. “So, while we’re scattered over that number of employees, you can see that’s a considerable amount of money, but you can’t expect people to work at a deficit.”
The current draft is available to the public by visiting or contacting the Rowan County Judge Executive’s office. County officials will have the opportunity to make changes within categories, without changing total amounts spent, before the budget’s next reading.
Meetings are livestreamed and archived at the Rowan County Fiscal Court Facebook page.