BY DEBBIE PAGE

The Troutman Town Council honored recently retired council member Paul Henkel for providing decades of dedicated service to the community on various boards and the council.

During last week’s meeting, Mayor Teross Young presented Henkel with the Troutman insignia paddle and an iconic Troutman Chair Co. rocker as tokens of the town’s gratitude.

“You have helped to shape our community in a lot of ways. We appreciate your service to our town,” Young said.

“It has been an honor and a pleasure to serve with this council,” Henkel said.

Offering praise to returning and new members of the council, Henkel said he looked forward to watching them “leading us in a very cautious, very judicious manner” to make Troutman a great community in which to live.

“I leave with mixed emotions. It’s been so long it gets in your blood, like quitting cold turkey on a pack of cigarettes,” Henkel said. “It’s kind of like losing a part of me – coming up here and being on the other side. But now I get to toss the rocks instead of being on the receiving end.

“All of you are great folks, and it’s been a pleasure to serve with you,” he added.

AUDIT REPORT

Tim Zeng, audit manager of Thomson, Price, Scott, & Adams, Co., presented the town’s 2024-2025 audit report to the council.

Zeng reported the town’s audit was clean. The only error detected was the Water and Sewer Administration Department overspent by $35,262 due to incorporating pension-related reconciliation amounts into the current year actual expenses.

“The amount is insignificant so no finding is reported,” he said.

The town’s General Fund balance, which includes cash and assets, stood at a healthy $8,385,588 at the end of fiscal year 2025, reaching 71.18 percent of General Fund expenditures. The available fund balance is $6,830,741, or 57.98 percent of General Fund expenditures.

The town exceeds the N.C. Local Government Commission’s recommendation of saving 8 percent of yearly expenditures.

Zeng praised the town’s 99.19 percent property tax collection rate, which amounted to $8,056,857 in revenue. Along with other taxes, service fees, investment earnings, and other revenue, the town collected $14,062,733 in revenue and spent $11,106,039 on general government (36.30 percent), public safety (27.68 percent), streets and public works (23.98 percent), and cultural and recreational services (6.31 percent), capital outlay (1.47 percent), and debt services (4.27 percent).

The Water Fund ended the 2024-25 fiscal year with $1,392,271 in cash balance and $1,155,289 in fund balance. The Sewer Fund cash balance stood at $8,035,449, with a fund balance of $24,958,476.

Zeng noted the town’s property tax rate of .50 per $100 assessed value is above the group weighted average.

WASTEWATER

The council awarded sewer expansion engineering contracts for the Town of Troutman Eastern Wastewater Transmission Project to Kimley Horn. The project is required to expand Troutman’s sewer capacity by accommodating additional wastewater discharge to the Town of Mooresville wastewater treatment facilities.

The town council appropriated $1,675,820 for this phase 1 and 3 of the project. The cost for phase 1 is $835,250 and $840,570 for phase 2.

A state grant is covering $1 million of the costs for these two phases.

Because of sewer capacity limitations, the town is currently under a 30-month building moratorium, passed in September, that stops all new residential subdivisions and multi-family development in the town.

New non-residential development, including commercial or industrial, is allowed to proceed if the business utilizes less than 1,000 gallons of sewer capacity per day.

The moratorium does not affect already approved residential or commercial/industrial projects.

OTHER BUSINESS

The council also unanimously approved:

♦ An amendment to correct some language in the Open Burning Ordinance and permit.

♦ An amendment to the 2025-2026 Budget increasing the Parks and Recreation recreational supplies line item with an anticipated increase in adult and youth athletic registration fees ($15,000), increasing the maintenance and repair of vehicle line item for the Police Department with insurance proceeds from a vehicle accident ($14,133, and increasing the maintenance and repair of equipment line item for the Public Works Department with insurance proceeds from an accident ($15,791).

♦ Adoption of the Proposed FY 2027 Budget planning calendar, with a strategic planning session planned for February 25 and 26 (8 a.m to 2 p.m. – second day optional if needed) and a budget retreat to examine the proposed budget on April 22 and 23 (8 a.m to 2 p.m. – second day optional if needed). The proposed budget is then scheduled to be publicly published on May 1, with a public hearing on May 7 and adoption on June 11.

♦ Staggering the ABC Board members’ terms to ensure continuity.

♦ The facade proposed for Mavis Tire (186 Home Improvement Street).

♦ Appointment of Steve Cash (term expires 12/31/29) and and reappointment of Kim Cavin (term expires 12/31/28) to the Troutman ABC Board.

♦ Appointment of Richard Parsons to fill the unexpired term of George Harris (term expires 11/12/27) and reappointment of Karen Van Vliet (term expires 1/12/29) to the Design Review Board.

♦ Appointment of Michael Adney to the Planning and Zoning Board as an Inside Voting Member to fill the unexpired term of Tonya Bartlett (term expires 5/15/27) and appointment of Linda Bishop as Inside Alternate to fill the unexpired term of Michael Adney (term expires 9/14/26).