All commissioners present:
Chairman Chad Stewart, Tony Braswell, Ted Godwin, Patrick Harris,
Butch Lawter, Fred Smith, and Larry Wood

ANNUAL AUDIT'S "GOOD NEWS": GENERAL FUND BALANCE
HAS GROWN TO $117 MILLION WITH A REDUCTION IN DEBT

CPA Alan Thompson of an independent auditing firm based in Elizabethtown called the annual audit report of the county's finances for fiscal 2019-20 "good news" as it shows the General Fund balance of unspent money has grown to $117 million --- up significantly from a balance of $61 million four years ago. Making that news even better is a reduction in the county's indebtedness from $298 million to $257 million over the past four years, he told the board. The county's Water Fund was more than $70 million in the black while the Sewer Fund had a balance of more than $40 million as of last June 30, he noted. "Overall the county's financial health is really good," Mr. Thompson concluded.

BROADBAND STUDY OF JOHNSTON UNDER WAY

Jeff Brooks of ECC Technology, a Raleigh-based consulting firm, gave the board an update on the initial thrust of a study of where and how broadband internet service can be expanded throughout Johnston County. He said his firm finds "a lot" of fiber-optic, high-speed service in fast-growing northwestern Johnston, and he credited real-estate developers in that highly competitive market for providing much of that. What's to be determined are options for extending better service to rural areas lacking it. Wireless internet is less costly but "not as good as fiber," he told the board. Winning approval of grants for improving broadband service will be a key element of the consultant's work, Mr. Brooks indicated.

SOIL & WATER CONSERVATION REPORT

Joe David Austin, interim director of the Johnston Soil & Water Conservation District, presented the board a brief report on current activities. He said about 36% of Johnston County's more than 506,000 acres is devoted to "active farming." He said his federally funded agency helped about 50 landowners and farmers this past year with conservation measures like crop rotation, cover crops, terraces, and lagoon closures. One of the district's goals this year, Mr. Austin said, is to recruit another 70 farmers to join the Voluntary Agricultural District Program by making a commitment to keep their lands in agricultural production for a designated period of time. For more information, visit the district's website>

"ALL IN RED" WEEK PROCLAIMED FOR HEART CAMPAIGN

The board adopted a resolution proclaiming February 5-12 as "All in Red" Week and asking Johnstonians to "wear red" this Friday to draw attention to a campaign for heart-disease awareness. Jeff Holt, chair of the Johnston Health Foundation's campaign, told commissioners that an American dies as a result of cardiac disease every 36 seconds. Funds raised by the local campaign, he said, will be used for personal "recovery expenses" including transportation, prescription drugs, and other items required by recovering heart patients of limited means. The Health Foundation has a link for making online donations>

TAX-COLLECTING SLOWDOWN BLAMED ON MAIL SERVICE

Tax Administrator Jocelyn Andrews told the board her office experienced a 4% drop in property-tax collections in December because of "a significant delay" in delivery of mailed payments. She said that number improved by mid-January as many payments finally arrived, cutting the actual monthly drop in collections to 0.6%. As a result of the delayed receipts, reminders about unpaid taxes that were due January 5 were delayed till the end of this week, she said. Normally those reminders go out in mid-January, she noted.