The Town of Matthews is ticking all the boxes as it marches towards the June 30 deadline for adopting its fiscal year 2025-2026 budget, as per North Carolina law which stipulates that municipalities have to get their financial house in order before the start of July. In the thick of things is Town Manager Becky Hawke who, along with her team, is prepping to lay out the proposed budgetary blueprint before the Board of Commissioners come Monday, in what's described as a "special meeting" at 5:30 p.m.
The budget proceedings officially opened their curtains earlier in the year, and since then it's been a tactical waltz of numbers and projections; Hawke, doubling as the Town's Budget Officer, has been in concert with Assistant Town Manager Melia James, and alongside Finance Director Teresa Fulk, they have gone through departmental budget requests, microscoping each and ensuring that the planned budget balances on the fine line of fiscal responsibility and community needs. All residents with a stake in where the financial chips fall can stream the proceedings live on the Town's YouTube page, the Town of Matthews website has announced.
According to the outlined budget schedule, after the initial presentation on Monday, a workshop to snoop around the finer details of departmental expenditures is set for May 19 at 6:00 p.m., because when it comes to handling public funds transparency is not just a nice-to-have—it's compulsory. The subsequent act in this financial play is the public hearing scheduled for May 27 at 7:00 p.m., where community voices can pitch in with their opinions—a move likely appreciated by citizens who prefer not to have decisions made entirely behind closed doors.
Should the numbers and debates require further massaging, another budget workshop could be on the calendar for June 3, with a view to ironing out any remaining fiscal creases before the budget officially hatches into existence at the regular meeting on June 9 where the Board is slated to adopt it like an invaluable artifact that indeed it is. Now if the budget plays hard to get and isn't pinned down that evening, June 23 stands as the alternative date for adoption.
