Property owners in Burke County will get a small break in property taxes in the upcoming fiscal year and the school system and community college will see a bit more money from the county.
The Burke County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the county’s 2025-26 budget Monday night. The budget includes a drop in the property tax rate to 55.5 cents per $100 of property value. Commissioner Phil Smith was absent from the meeting.
The county tax rate currently is 56 cents per $100 of property value. It is the second decrease in the tax rate in the last three years, County Manager Brian Epley said at the meeting.
Out of the $116.2 million budget, Burke County Public Schools will see an extra $250,000 in its allocation from the county in the 2025-26 fiscal year, for a total of $20.5 million.
Western Piedmont Community College will get an additional $70,000, for a total of $3.5 million from the county. The college also will get about $425,000 for capital projects.
The basic monthly service fee for water will increase from $25 to $30, as will the basic monthly sewer service fee.
The budget, which goes into effect July 1, calls for a 2.25% cost of living pay increase for county employees.
To view the budget, visit .
Burke social services, health building
During Monday night’s meeting, commissioners also approved allowing Epley to negotiate a contract with Holland & Hamrick Architects for architectural and civil engineering services to renovate the 64,000-square-foot Human Resource Center on East Parker Road in Â鶹´«Ã½. The renovation is expected to cost about $10 million and take two years to complete. The building houses the social services and health departments.
$10 million for new central office
The board also approved its consent agenda, which included a $10 million transfer from the Burke County Public School Capital Project Fund for the renovation of the former Burke United Christian Ministries building at 305 W. Union St., Â鶹´«Ã½. The school system plans to renovate the building and move its central office staff to the location. The central office is currently in the county Human Resources Center.
The county, as part of its consent agenda, also agreed to collect property taxes for the town of Drexel. The agreement calls for the county to collect the taxes in exchange for 2% of the revenue collected. Drexel joins other towns that the county collects taxes for, including Glen Alpine, Valdese, Hildebran and Connelly Springs.
