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By Jim Buice
Enterprise Record

BERMUDA RUN – The budget season is always hectic, and that’s the case in the town as Andrew Meadwell presented the fiscal year 2025-26 proposed numbers last week.
Meadwell, in his third year as town manager, said that the recommended budget for all three funds is $4,875,950 with the General Fund, which is the basic operating fund for town services, at $3,003,900, the Gate Operations Fund at $1,077,100 and the Utilities Fund at $794,950.
“The recommended tax rate remains at 15 cents per $100 of value,” said Meadwell, who received approval from the council to call for a public hearing on Tuesday, June 10 at 6 p.m. at Town Hall. “We all understand that this was a revaluation year and that revenue neutral rate equates to 13.5 cents per $100 of value, and this budget is balanced.”
The proposed General Fund Revenues total breakdown is: Ad Valorem Taxes, $1,203,500; Sales Taxes, $460,000; ABC Revenue, $271,000; Powell Bill, $100,000; Vehicle Tax, $100,000; Intergovernmental, $565,000; and Miscellaneous, $304,400.
Meadwell called the Gate Fund “a little bit tricky” for the upcoming fiscal year because of the changes involving the gate operations with two possible paths – one for the current staffing model and the other being all-inclusive, which would include staffing, administrative and maintenance.
However, he said that the town did not receive a sufficient number of bids for either RFP (request for proposal), but both have been put out for rebid with the expectation that those bids will be received late this week.
“That will allow us to make an assessment of which method is preferred, and I will make a presentation to the town council on that and start choosing a vendor and those contract negotiations,” Meadwell said. “When we look at this, we’re kind of having to set a high-water mark on this anticipated gate fee, which is proposed at $856 per assessed parcel in Bermuda Run and Bermuda West.
“As these RFP’s come in, we’ll have a better understanding of what that fee is going to be. I think the one thing we don’t want to do is show a lower number, adopt a budget, tax bills go out and then we have to come back, and say, ‘Hey, you have to pay this now.’ We would rather avoid this situation.”
As for the Utilities Fund, Meadwell said it is “still somewhat stable and will remain the same or somewhat flat, but our ultimate goal is that we want to turn this system over to the Davie County Utilities.”