Northampton grapples with potential tax increase

The Northampton County Board of Supervisors discussed the proposed new budget at Tuesday night’s meeting, which includes a two-cent tax increase for county landowners.

Supervisor Betsy Mapp noted that a significant portion of the increase is intended to fund raises for county employees. However, County Administrator Charlie Kolakowski said the situation is more complex.

“Certainly, part of the increase is due to salaries and benefits we’re offering our employees,” he said, “but there are other factors at play—particularly declines in some of our revenue sources.”

The county has seen a downturn in both sales tax and transient occupancy tax revenues.

Supervisor Oliver Bennett expressed concern over raising property taxes.

“If we had more businesses coming into Northampton County, that would be great,” he said. “I just wonder—can things be scaled back? It’s a possibility. We’re asking more from our citizens, many of whom are not financially stable. What are we giving them in return?”

Supervisor John Coker responded that providing the same level of services now costs significantly more—a trend that has persisted for several years.

Kolakowski agreed and warned the Board that service cuts would have consequences. Still, he added, the time may come when the county will have no choice but to provide fewer taxpayer-funded services.

“Not a fun thing to go through to have to decide to cut back on staffing,” he said. “But while you’re providing the services that you’re providing now, you need to keep the staff levels where they are at and provide adequate compensation for the people who are doing them.”

Three speakers spoke at the public hearing, though not directly to the tax increase itself. A final vote is scheduled for the June work session.