04/28/2026
Budget time. Oh My. Lets talk
State law says the town of Oak Island must submit its budget to the state by July 1. The Mayor, Town Manager, Council members meet 5 times for 4 hours at a time to go over every line by line in the budget
The Police chief, the Fire chief, each department head ( sewer, public works, parks and rec, 801 center, developmental services, planning board, stormwater, administration, etc come in and tell what their needs are and how many cars, trucks, equipment, personnel, money they feel they need in order to do their jobs.
Ever year, I have fought, argued, pled my case to not raise taxes on the people of OKI. Sometimes fees go up ( fire fee, debris pick up fee, garbage fee), but so far NOT taxes. OKI has maintained one of the lower municipal tax rates in Brunswick County reflecting a consistent, disciplined, approach to balancing service levels with affordability. Have not raised taxes since 2017. wow
This year is going to be difficult to not raise taxes, but I am digging, looking for alternative answers.
I dont just campaign on transparency. This town belongs to 10000 tax paying residents. I want to tell you everything I know. We are in this together. I take pride in knowing my friends and neighbors are relying on me to have their back. Here it is Saturday morning at 6 am, and I am pouring over the various options.
Actual General Fund expenses ( before unexpected costs):
Fire $2,995,582.44 18%
Police $2,031,218.37 12%
Administration $1,773,328.92 11%
Public works $1,122,327,74 7%
Streets $662,844.74 4%
Parks and Rec $652,058.66 4%
Planning Dept $474,873.09 3%
Developmental services $402,213.06 25
Facilitie maintenance $393,151.33 2%
Town council $221,113.97 1%. ( dont panic, we only make $775 a month)
Fleet Maintenance $196,885 1%
animal control $72000 0%
Public Works $143,202.46 2%
Community Rec center $73,306.21 0%
outside agencies $28,250 0%
Transfers$5,300,000 32%
OKAY, lets talk budget!!
A one cent tax increase on property tax computes to $680,000 in additional revenue.
Brunswick county has had 27.8% growth the last 5 years. Wow Leland is the largest town, OKI is the second largest town in the county.
Brunswick County is the fastest growing county in the state. 7th fastest growing county in the nation.
Because of this, of course, housing prices, rentals have gone up. Luckily, our accomodation tax revenue has gone up.
the tax reevaluation increased the value of our real estate, but it hurt our senior citizens, our people on fixed incomes. I am very much aware that a tax increase will really hurt some households.
wastewater department: we are set up to do 3,000,000 gallons of water (sewer) a day in peak season. 1,500,000 gallons during normal times.
The wastewater treatment center need updating. We also need a new one million gallon water tank.
Wastewater equipment updating could cost over $14,000,000. Of course spread out over a 10 year payoff period. But the needs are real
*wastewater is asking for $1.79 a month increase in fees per 1000 gallons. ( $87.16 per year increase based on 4000 gallon usage.
Stormwater wants GIS survey equipment and the license . $42,000
drainage project for 46th st $190,000
3 new vehicles
uncw contract at $135,000 instead of $750,000
this is a lot of asks, but the council has said we need to see a master strategic plan before we can sign off on most of this.
Stormwater wants a fee increase from$7 per month to $10 per month
I want to know who, when, where are we pursuiing grants.
Developmental services wants a new $30,000 software package
$150,000 UDO rewrite
Public works. Fleet buildings ( metal buildings behind town hall is deteriorating. Is it time to move all this to the airport area?
needs another grapple truck and driver
rec center. New building. Renovate existing building. Decision time.
Yard debris pickup wants $2.15 increase per month ( $25 per year)
GFL trash pickup wants a 4.8% increase. The county pays for one trash can per house. The people of OKI pay for the recycle tub ( $11.97 per month) Yes, we pay them monthly so they can take our recycle material and sell it and make more money off of it for themselves.. Is it time to stop mandatory recycling?
Police department talked about service, safety and responsibility
911 emergency response time is 3 minutes
police discussed difficulty in recruiting officers due to pay scale as compared with other towns.
Needs better surveilance system for town buildings.
Needs a new gun range as the old one is shutting down.
Fire department oh my
the dorms in the Middleton station are not up to code, mold issues, improper windows. Would like $4,500,000 to build new sleeping quarters and office space on vacant lot next to fire station
from dispatch to scene of fire is1;32 dispatch, 5:11 travel to fire. Total 6 minutes 11 seconds
4 person crew. A 4 person crew is 80% faster and more efficient than a 3 person crew. Fire dept has asked to hire 3 more firefighters.
However the fire dept had 390 overlapping calls in 2025
1729 total calls (fire, accident, heart attack,medical
Now the scary news. The town owns 2 ladder fire trucks. One truck is 26 years old, the other truck is 22 years old ( ancient). To our dismay, one has been deemed inoperable and can only be sold for scrap , the other is hanging on with duct tape and prayers, and is not reliable. Ladder trucks cost $2,000,000 and take forever to get.
OK so this is the abbreviated accounting of what we are dealing with.
Ugly remarks will be deleted
Smart insightful ideas will be appreciated.
I dont want to raise taxes. If people want extra amenities someone has to pay for it. A new rec center, your taxes will go up. ( yes, I want to pursue every grant available in the meantime). No, I can not justify a new one at this time.
More sidewalks will be nice. . Somehow it has to be paid for. We can do anything we want, but if we want it, we have to find the money or raise taxes. So, how bad do we want some things?
Dont panic. Trust me. We will get there. Every rock will be turned over, every discussion will happen. But, this is what we are dealing with.
Yes, we have discussed getting rid of costly overhead that is draining our budget. 801 center has not been a profit.. Find better answers for par 3 golf course. I proposed since we have to keep it as a golf course, that we lease it to a par 3 company that knows how to manage and market a par 3 course. That will save us over $300k a year and we still have a par 3 course, but not the expenses.
Stay tuned. Offer me your insights.
