Forsyth County commissioners approved a $600 million budget in June that maintains county services, increases school funding and continues their support of community agencies while strengthening the county’s fiscal health.

The property tax rate in the recommended budget is 55.40 cents per $100 of property value, which is a 1.88 cent increase over the current fiscal year. For the average median home value in Forsyth County of $269,700, that would result in a $50.70 increase in annual property tax, which is the equivalent of $4.23 per month.

The budget grew by a modest 1.6 percent over the current fiscal year in order to maintain county services.

Education remains the county’s top spending area with $193.5 million or 32 percent of the budget. Winston-Salem/Forsyth County (WS/FC) Schools receives 92.5 percent of those funds, or $179 million, with Forsyth Technical Community College and Cooperative Extension receiving the remainder. This does not include School Resource Officers, provided by the Sheriff’s Office and school nurses, provided by Public Health. If those were included, it would bring the county’s funding for WS/FC Schools to $184 million. WS/FC Schools received a $1.78 million, or 1 percent, increase in recurring funds, using a funding formula that provides predictable and sustainable funding. During the budget deliberations, an additional $1.3 million was added to assist with their Exceptional Children staffing, bringing the increase to $3.1 million, or 1.7 percent. Additionally, education bond projects, like school construction and renovations, make up $60.16 million of the $85.6 million devoted to debt service in the General Fund.

Public Safety is the county’s second largest service area by expenditures, with 19 percent of the budget or $116.5 million. The Sheriff’s Office receives 73 percent of those funds, or $85 million, and Emergency Services receives 26 percent of those funds, or $30 million.

You can find more information about the budget, on the county’s Budget and Management website.

Commissioner Chair Don Martin recently announced he will be retiring from the Board of Commissioners on July 31, after nearly 12 years on the board.

During Martin’s time on the board, voters approved both the 2016 school bond and the quarter cent sales tax to increase teacher pay. The county has also added parks and rebuilt libraries. We also built a new courthouse, Kaleideum Science Museum and Cooperative Extension Center along with navigating the COVID-19 pandemic.

The commissioners also had a busy month in June, which included passing the FY27 budget and visiting state lawmakers in Raleigh. For July, they're back to their normal meetings and will attend the National Association of County Commissioners (NACo) Conference in New Orleans from July 17-20.

Here are this month’s meetings:

• Monday, July 6 2 p.m. Briefing
• Thursday, July 9 10 a.m. Bimonthly Morning Discussion Session
  2 p.m. Meeting
• Monday, July 27 2 p.m. Briefing
• Thursday, July 30 6 p.m. Meeting

A retirement reception will be held for Martin on July 27 outside the commissioners’ chambers after the 2 p.m. briefing.

During briefings, staff brief the commissioners on the items they'll vote on in that week's meeting. During meetings, they vote on various items and hear from residents during their regular public comment session.

All commissioner meetings are held at the Forsyth County Government Center, 201 N. Chestnut St. Meetings are streamed live in their entirety on Forsyth County YouTube and Facebook, as well as the Forsyth County website (where you can also find meeting agendas) and are also broadcasted live on WSTV13 on Spectrum cable.

Forsyth County commissioners visit state lawmakers in Raleigh.