Question and answer forum for residents held for $50 million Leland town budget

LELAND, NC (WWAY) — Dozens of people took part in a question-and-answer forum for the town of Leland’s upcoming fiscal year budget on Monday night.

Town staff is still hammering out their $50 million budget, and the forum gave residents a chance to ask any questions about specific items in it.

Some of the issues people raised included concerns about paved and unpaved roads in the town, employee benefits for town employees, and how the town can improve its parks.

The proposed budget also included a slight reduction in the tax rate to 25 cents per $ 100 of property value.

Council member Veronica Carter said public safety is one of the most important aspects of this budget.

“I think governments exist to ensure that their residents are safe and by expanding both our fire and police department, we are continuing to ensure that we have one of the safer towns in the area and we want to make sure that people feel safe and are safe when they are in our town or going through our town,” Carter said.

The proposed budget includes money allocated for several new firefighter and police officer positions.

Carter said a public hearing about the budget will be held at the next council meeting, and she anticipates the budget will be approved sometime in April.