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Forsyth County commissioners approved a $591 million budget on June 5 that maintains county services, increases school funding and continues their support of community agencies while strengthening the county’s fiscal health.

The budget sets the property tax rate at 53.52 cents per $100 of property value, a decrease of 14.26 cents due to the historic increases in property values found during reappraisal. The revenue-neutral rate to bring in the same amount of revenue as the current tax rate would have been 49.04 cents (a decrease of 18.74 cents). For the average median home value in Forsyth County of $269,700, the new tax rate will be a $120.83 increase above the revenue-neutral tax rate, or the equivalent of $10.07 per month.

The budget grew by a modest 0.9 percent over the current fiscal year, maintaining current services to residents while providing community grants to local non-profits.

This budget doesn’t use fund balance for recurring expenses, which was used in previous years to avoid tax increases. Fund balance represents the cumulative difference between revenues and expenditures. A strong fund balance ensures sufficient cash flow for daily operations and provides a financial safeguard for unforeseen emergencies. It serves as a key indicator of the County’s fiscal health.

Fund balance could no longer be used as it has been in previous years, in order to maintain the County’s AAA bond rating that allows the county to borrow at the lowest possible interest rates, which saves taxpayer’s money and reinforces the county’s long-term financial stability.

Education remains the county’s top spending area with $195.6 million or 33 percent of the budget. Winston-Salem/Forsyth County (WS/FC) Schools receives 92 percent of those funds, or $180.6 million, with Forsyth Technical Community College and Cooperative Extension receiving the remainder. WS/FC Schools received a $6.7 million, or 3.9 percent, increase in recurring funds, using a new funding formula that provides predictable and sustainable funding. Additionally, education bond projects, like building and schools, make up $62.2 million of the $86.5 million devoted to debt service in the General Fund.

Public Safety is the county’s second largest service area by expenditures, with 18 percent of the budget or $107.7 million. The Sheriff’s Office receives 73 percent of those funds, or $79 million, and Emergency Services receives 28 percent of those funds, or $26 million.

The budget includes $2 million in new spending on county services, nearly half of which is offset with revenues. This includes nine new positions plus a reclassified position and a vehicle purchase for the Sheriff’s Office, two new county fire positions and shifting a 911 CAD system administrator position to fulltime. There are also additional positions for the Animal Shelter and Social Services in the adopted budget. There’s continued funding for the violence intervention program Forsyth WINS and a shift to prorate holiday pay for county employees proportional to the hours they work.

To support the County’s ability to attract and retain top talent, the budget continues to fund annual performance-based salary increases as well as longevity payments for employees.

The budget includes $1.8 million in community grants for local non-profits, including Senior Services, Experiment in Self-Reliance, Children’s Law Center, HARRY Veterans Services, Bethesda Center for the Homeless, Crosby Scholars, Salvation Army, Kaleideum, Arts Council, Old Salem and others.

The budget also adjusts all fire service districts to their new revenue-neutral tax rates based on this year’s property reappraisal and includes a 1.4-cent increase in the countywide fire overlay district tax in areas served by rural volunteer fire departments, bringing its total to 1.79 cents. This adjustment will support the County’s fire suppression, prevention, and inspection efforts; fund baseline staffing levels across all districts to improve response times; and help advance the goal of a more equitable and stable fire service system for residents.

The commissioners thanked the budget staff for their hard work and diligence in preparing the budget.

The preliminary budget is still available to view online on the Budget Department website. The final, approved budget, which goes into effect on July 1, will be available online by the end of the month.