The Pender County Manager presented the recommended budget for Fiscal Year 2026-2027 to the Board of Commissioners on June 1, 2026. A copy of the proposed budget was filed in the office of the Clerk to the Board and posted on the county website. The public hearing and adoption are scheduled for June 15, 2026, at a Board of County Commissioners meeting.
The recommended General Fund budget totals $137,361,182. It includes a two-cent increase above the revenue-neutral tax rate, setting an ad-valorem rate at $0.4251 per $100 valuation as of January 1, 2026. Fire district and EMS taxes have also been adjusted to revenue-neutral rates in this proposal.
Key additions in this year’s budget include a three percent cost-of-living adjustment for all employees and a one-step pay increase for those hired before July 1, 2025. The Way Forward Initiative is introduced as part of this proposal; it reviews employee salaries, certifications, education levels, and department organization with over 160 position reclassifications across nearly every county department.
Pender County Schools are recommended to receive $33,789,270 for current expenses—a $4 million increase from last year due to state education funding cuts—while capital outlay remains unchanged at $4,017,068. The proposed budget also allocates funds for new positions and preparations related to both the Department of Health and Human Services building transition and an upcoming Law Enforcement Center.
Pender County Utilities submitted a $22.6 million plan across system development fees along with water and sewer funds; this includes a monthly service availability fee water rate increase by thirteen point two percent as part of phased funding over five years toward construction projects like the Membrane Water Treatment Plant.
Of students in Pender County school districts during the 2022-23 school year: among seniors taking ACT science exams, twenty-six point nine percent were considered college ready; among juniors it was twenty-eight point one percent; reading readiness rates were forty point seven percent (seniors) and thirty-nine point two percent (juniors); math readiness rates were twenty-five point six percent (seniors) and twenty-six point four percent (juniors), according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.
