EAST SPENCER — The Board of Aldermen approved a budget for the fiscal year 2026 Monday night one vote shy of unanimous that holds the tax rate at its current level of 86 cents for $100 of assessed value.

The total budget is $4,812,378, which includes $3,282,102 in the general fund, $1,457,471 in the enterprise fund and $72,805 in the Powell Bill Fund.

Six board members, including Mayor Barbara Mallett, voted to approve the budget in front of a gathering of about 15 residents. Mayor Pro Tem Curtis Cowan voted against it.

Town Manager Michael Douglas has explained that the budget represents the second year of a five-year plan to grow the town’s fire department to full time.

The budget does include salary increases for town employees with the exception of the finance director and the parks and recreation supervisor. The finance director was recently hired and is not yet eligible for a raise.

The budget also increases the monthly stipend for the mayor and Board of Aldermen for the first time in five years.

There is also ongoing recruitment to fill all full-time positions. In addition, the town is working toward the construction of a new public safety facility. The town’s police department is located in the back of town hall, and the fire department next door has two bays and is in desperate need of repair or replacement.

“Now that we have completed the fiscal years 2022 and 2023 audit, we will pursue getting support from USDA to build a public safety building,” said Douglas. “To date, we have requested $10 million from the state’s General Assembly to help with the construction of a public safety building.”

The East Spencer Fire Department was awarded the State Volunteer Fire Grant Fund grant in the amount of $24,625 in May 2025 and these funds will be used in fiscal year 2026. The town has also budgeted for the matching requirement of $24,625 for a total of $49,250 for the purchase of fire equipment.

Increased pay and providing take-home vehicles, updated equipment and better access to training means the town continues to attract and retain quality police officers. There are eight full-time positions and only one remains open at this time, but Douglas said because of the number of new homes either planned or under construction in the future, the department will need three more officers over the next three years.

“The parks and recreation program for 2025 will be more robust than in previous years,” Douglas has also said. “We have scheduled leagues for baseball, softball and basketball to name a few. Additionally, we have worked with the Carolina Panthers and Charlotte Knights for the purchase of tickets to support resident involvement in parks and recreation.”

Perhaps most exciting is that the town has applied for a BUILD grant of $25 million that would go toward a proposed interchange off of I-85 between exist 79 and 76 inside East Spencer’s Extraterritorial Jurisdiction (ETJ). Douglas said the town hopes to hear the results of that application by the end of June.

In the spring, a delegation from Rowan County traveled to Washington to meet with legislators and everyone who attended advocated for the approval of the grant.

“The budget does not increase taxes, which was important to us that we not put any additional burden on our residents right now,” said Douglas. “We are also seeing a tremendous increase in growth and development that will help take more of that burden off homeowners as our commercial tax base grows. So we are beyond grateful for the support across the rest of our community. If we are able to build the interchange, it benefits all of Rowan, not just East Spencer, but it certainly will help our own base grow.”

Some in the audience at the meeting questioned if the town was increasing taxes because it was explained how much even a one cent increase would affect residents, but it was only an example. Taxes will remain the same in the coming year.