Thursday, October 1, 2026
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Cherryville, NC (WNN) - The City of Cherryville's work session on May 26, 2026, focused on 2026- 2027 items. As a reminder, the public hearing for this budget year will be on June 8, 2026.
Read the FY 2027 Proposed Budget Here.
City Manager Brian Dalton began the discussion with an overview of what is expected in the 2026-2027 proposed budget. Notably, the tax rate and water and sewer rates will not increase in Cherryville this year. The electric rate will increase by 3% due to the wholesale rate rising, which should result in no more than a $5 monthly difference for residential customers. They also reviewed that there will be $220,000 from the Powell Bill for roads, with an additional $325,000 supplied from the city. This was possible because the decision was not to purchase another sanitation truck this year, as three are currently in good condition.
The city plans to purchase a one-man chipper/leaf truck, as previously mentioned. They also plan to lease another police truck and a service truck for the water department. The other planned capital outlay lease is a command center trailer for the Cherryville Police Department to use during city festivals. The plan would be to use it to block large sections of a road rather than with regular police vehicles. It would allow the police to surveil the area by a drone pilot flying the aircraft from outside the trailer, while those on the inside could view it on the large screen. Currently, the city has $104,000 planned for leasing in the upcoming year.
Mayor Wade Stroupe and council member Janice Hovis believed this had been removed from the budget when it was brought up previously due to the recent purchase of the police department. The trailer would be $622 monthly and would be owned at the end of a five-year term, totaling $33000 over the lease's lifetime. Currently, Cherryville must bring one in from another police department, which creates manpower issues. Hovis asked about accessory costs: amounting to only TVs purchased via a Walmart grant, and lettering the trailer. Mayor Stroupe favored removing it from the current budget. This was due to timing with other purchases, not a disagreement over the need for the trailer. The item was tabled due to the absence of council members Gary Freeman and Jill Puett, so they may be included in the decision on whether to include this in the budget.
The city has decided that the 3.75% fee on the total amount spent on credit card purchases made and the city will be passing along this cost to customers. Currently, these fees cost the city $60,000 a year, as they had previously covered them. These fees should be entirely avoidable for the customer via bank draft, check, or cash. However, the fee applies to all card purchases, including debit card transactions.
The decision not to use Blue Cross Blue Shield due to their proposed 43% rate increase was confirmed at this meeting. The city will switch to Cigna Health Insurance, with a negotiated 10.5% increase for a plan that should be identical to the current plan. The city partially covers dependents, but spouses are fully covered by the employee.
While the previous year had seen a 10% cost-of-living increase to get Cherryville back in line with surrounding wage rates, this year had a 2% COLA planned. This increase is for every city employee and excludes the incentive-based raises for employees with certifications. Dalton suggested raising the incentive-based amount per department to $8000, up from $5000. They also discussed changing these rates based on how many employees a department has and if certifications are available for the department's employees. The discussion then moved to the previously discussed idea of including bonuses for exemplary effort. Hovis brought up that, if it is implemented, all employees should have this program explained very clearly. This would also include Cherryville starting an employee evaluation process. Currently, City of Cherryville employees are not evaluated, and the council members found this shocking.
The major concern about the bonuses is that they could devolve into a buddy system, with employees receiving them for friendship, not effort. This is why its implementation must include yearly evaluations, which should occur either on the anniversary of employment or at the same time yearly for all employees. This incentive-based bonus is to help discourage employees from laying out consistently. City Manager Dalton wants to recognize the employees who go above and beyond. In the end, they decided to raise the COLA to 3% and push the incentive program idea forward to the next budget cycle.
Fire Chief Colby Heffner came before the council to present a savings opportunity for Cherryville. The Assistance to Firefighters Grant through FEMA could see up to 95% of the costs of a new fire engine paid. It is only open to apply for during the upcoming month, and would be used to replace their 2008 Rosenbauer 75-foot aerial fire apparatus with a new 107-foot one. This is a purchase the department will eventually have to make, and the total cost of this truck would be $1,722,000. This would have the city paying only $87,000 of the cost if the grant is awarded in full. Due to the time constraints, the council voted to allow Chief Heffner to seek the grant at the work session.
Mayor Stroupe mentioned the events held by the Cherryville Legion and auxiliary on Memorial Day, noting that it was a somber experience of remembrance. He also mentioned that the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Sons of the American Revolution, and the American Legion will host a short prayer on the 4th of July at 10 AM. This will be at Cherryville’s Gazebo Mini Park. There will also be a parade in Dallas celebrating the 250th anniversary of the United States that same day at 2:00 PM.
Lastly, the crosswalk situation on Main Street in Cherryville was brought up. Stroupe mentioned that almost no one uses the crosswalks, with most people crossing wherever they please. The lack of the yield-to-pedestrians sign that used to be located at the center crosswalk was mentioned. Chief Hunsucker said the sign still exists at the public works department, but has not been reinstalled because it was often run over when in use. This is both by citizens and by fire engines, as it did not leave enough space for them to pass. He also noted that it had to be removed during festivals, making it a hassle to use in general.
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