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The Burke County Board of Commissioners is considering lowering the county property tax rate to 55.5 cents per $100 in value, down from 56 cents. The proposal was discussed at the board's annual budget retreat, held March 6-7 at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics in Â鶹´«Ã½.

The retreat is a time for commissioners to determine what the county should prioritize in the upcoming year’s fiscal budget that will take effect July 1.

If the lowered property tax rate is approved, it would be the second year in a row that the commissioners reduced the rate. Local governments have to adopt a budget for the new fiscal year by June 30.

In a home valued at $250,000, the property tax would decrease from $1,400 annually to $1,375.

Burke County Manager Brian Epley said the tax decrease is proposed because of several measures the county has taken to be more efficient and save in previous years. It also is proposed due to economic turbulence for businesses and homeowners that suffered damage during Hurricane Helene but have not received help from insurance or FEMA assistance, Epley said.

The tax rate and budget will be finalized at later meetings.

Building projects

The board also discussed a pressing capital improvement project: where to house the health department and social services department, a total of 249 employees. The departments are currently in the human services building on East Parker Road, but both are squeezed for space. What to do with the departments has been an ongoing conversation for leaders for several years.

The current building is about 62,000 square feet. The county will need about 90,000 square feet, Epley said.

The building is also home to the Burke County Public Schools central office, but the school system plans to move out once renovations are complete for the Burke United Christian Ministries building to becoming the central office. BUCM is moving into the former Food Lion on Fleming Drive.

When the school system moves out of the human services building, that will free up around 14,000 square feet, Epley said.

The board saw several options to address the need, presented by Epley:

• New construction, which would cost around $45 million.
• Renovating and adding additional space to the current human services building, which would cost about $30 million.
• Renovating space at Foothills Higher Education Center for the health department, which would cost about $20 million.
• Renovation of current space, which would be about $9.6 million.

Epley said if the current building is renovated, the county could add to the building at a later time when needed.

Epley recommended renovating the current building, and adding space in phases.

The county has not put money aside for the project, Epley said.

The board heard about other potential projects and received updates on some current projects. 

The EMS headquarters building and a new animal services shelter are underway. The EMS headquarters is expected to be completed by November. The animal services shelter is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2026, Greg Melton, architect at Holland & Hamrick, told commissioners.

The transfer station at the Burke County landfill, where household waste is loaded onto a 53 foot trailer and taken to Caldwell County, is in poor condition, Epley said. He said the county has held off on putting any investment into it because it may not be the long-term model for household waste.

Hugh Sandoe, budget strategy and performance analyst for the county, and Vance Moore, an engineering consultant on solid waste for the county, gave a presentation on how the county handles solid waste, its transfer station and the potential for the county to have its own household waste landfill. 

The county currently only operates a construction and demolition landfill at its Marsh Trail facility. 

The county landfill has enough land to operate its own household waste landfill, which would save the county $36 million over the 35- to 40-year lifespan of the landfill, Sandoe said. The county has an analysis of the county’s municipal solid waste program done by Garrett & Moore Inc. 

Epley asked for direction on what to do before the county invests in improving the transfer station.

Commissioners agreed to put $50,000 in the upcoming budget for engineering to explore the county opening an area of the landfill for household waste. If the project moves ahead, the county would spend $2.4 million in 2026-27 for permitting and $4.2 million in 2027-28 for construction of a household waste landfill.