GRANITE QUARRY — While attempting to work through a budget crunch during the Granite Quarry Town Council workshop on Thursday, town officials opted to look to take a unique path.

“I would like to spend what we’ve already appropriated, rather than (have the unspent funds) rollover. That means, in my mind, that we go ahead and buy another car if you can buy one. It might take six to eight months to get it online, but we’ve got it and it’s not in next year’s budget. If we want to go ahead and do something like a (salary) increase, let’s go ahead and do it and budget for it,” said Mayor Pro Tem Doug Shelton.

Shelton’s comments referred to the Granite Quarry-Faith Police Department budget, which stood in a strange position due to a request from Chief Todd Taylor to increase the total officer positions while simultaneously struggling to fill vacancies in the current positions. The two requested new positions stem from Taylor’s five-year plan for the department, which includes the addition of 11 new full-time employees.

“There’s no doubt that there’s been a tendency to place the needs of the fire department, sometimes, over the needs of the police. Just walk in the office and you can see it when you walk upstairs,” said Council Member Rich Luhrs.

As the budget for the current fiscal year stood on Thursday, the police department was expected to spend approximately $220,000 less in personnel costs than budgeted due to the unfilled positions.

When the council members expressed their desire to use its current budget to reduce expenses in the next fiscal year, Town Manager Jason Hord said that he would recommend they spend that money on salary increases and retention plans in order to fill the vacancies.

“As the manager, I will tell you that my recommendation right now is to consider these increases that I’ve done all this work digging for that we’re going to approve on July 1 anyways. Approve those now, let’s get that out there and hire those positions, raise the folks he’s got and work the retention piece on that,” said Hord.

Taylor has also requested two replacement vehicles for the upcoming fiscal year.

In addition to the police department positions, Mayor Brittany Barnhardt said that the town’s leftover funds could also be put towards requested vehicles for the public works department and a requested new zero-turn mowers, while Council Members John Linker said that he would like some to be put towards renovating the town hall lobby to match the board room.

“Y’all have made amazing strides across the board in every single department in this town. You can’t help that people aren’t here, we’re obviously making those changes to get people to come. But, take those funds and go ahead and check some more boxes off, because you’ve got the energy to keep rolling. People use the excuse that government moves slow, I’ll always keep saying that it doesn’t have to. We can move faster,” said Barnhardt.

In other news from the budget workshop on Thursday:

• The council members discussed the continuing conversations between Granite Quarry and Faith about the police agreement. The two towns have been in discussions about hammering out a five-year contract allowing for the Granite Quarry police to cover Faith, with incremental increases in the cost to Faith. No concrete numbers were brought before the council, and Hord noted that the revenues from the service still represent an unknown in the town’s budget. 
• Hord, who also serves as the town’s fire chief, said that his budget request for the fire department would be similar to the current budget, with increases primarily coming from cost of living adjustments and merit increases to salaries.
• Hord presented a proposal for a part-time community engagement coordinator, who would be responsible for coordinating community events, including donations and sponsorship possibilities. The council members had directed Hord to look into adding the position at their planning retreat, and he said that he believed that a part-time employee with a budgeted 24 hours a week would fit the town’s need and budget best.
• The council members discussed potentially increasing the environmental fees. Currently, the town charges $13 a month, which covers the costs associated with the town’s contract with Waste Management for trash pickup. However, the environmental fees are also related to the town’s limb and leaf pick-up services, and the aldermen discussed an increase to cover that. 
• The council members discussed potentially implementing a vehicle fee, which would be a flat fee charged to Granite Quarry residents every year. For example, Salisbury charges residents $30 a year for every vehicle registered in their name. Several council members said that they could only support implementing a fee if that money was put into a fund that was only used for street maintenance and improvements, specifically to supplement Powell Bill funding. “If we allow this to supplement that Powell Bill and build up, every time you go to pave a road we’re not dipping into the revenue of property taxes,” said Barnhardt.
• The council members directed Hord to look into applying for a Land and Water Conservation Fund to put towards the Civic Park improvements, which would require a 50 percent match by the town. “We need to keep going with that, working on it with what grants you can, and then if we have to bite the bullet and fund it (through) the taxpayer, we do it. They’re expecting to see us do something,” said Shelton.
• The council members set the next meeting to discuss the budget for 9 a.m. on April 17.