BY MILES LAYTON

SWAN QUARTER — A round-up of all things Hyde County…

I’ll start with a few short items before moving onto the county’s proposed budget for 2025-26 – there’s a lot of news there to digest. Property tax rates will remain the same, but get ready to pay fees for solid waste disposal.  

“I think this is my seventh budget cycle and I can appreciate the involvement of the process, the transparency with the meeting of the department heads, the workshops, and getting the word of the public as as well with with giving people time to digest it and, of course, obtain their feedback,” said M. Shannon Swindell, Vice-Chairman of the Hyde County Commission. “I think we’ve done a really good job. Seven years — it’s been quite a quite a change from our first year. I mean, of course, the job hasn’t gotten any easier, but I do appreciate everyone’s input on this. Thank you so much.”

Let’s start with the good news – Mattamuskeet School will hold its commencement celebration at 7 p.m. Friday, May 30, at the school. Good luck Lakers’ Class of 2025!  

Tuesday, meet the Lakers’ new principal, Tim O’Shea, at 4 p.m. in the Media Center. Afterward,  the “Mattamuskeet Rising” groundbreaking ceremony will be at 5 p.m. outside the Media Center. 

Katie Rooney, Career and Technical Education (CTE) Health Science Teacher at Ocracoke School, was selected as the 2025–2026 District Beginning Teacher of the Year.

“I am so honored to have been voted District Beginning Teacher of the Year! Teaching at Ocracoke School has brought me so much joy. The relationships I have built with my students and colleagues are so special and I am so thankful for all of their support as I have transitioned into teaching. I am so grateful to be part of an incredible staff of intelligent and driven educators who support our students in every way. I am learning every day how to be the best teacher I can be and could not do that without their mentorship. Our students are the future of our community and it is a privilege to be part of their journey here. I love watching all of my students grow and learn more about themselves. CTE helps students discover their passions and teaches them to set goals. Education is the foundation for life and I hope to continue to make learning fun, purposeful, and engaging for students.”

The North Carolina Beginning Teacher Program is a statewide initiative that supports new educators during their first three years in the classroom. Through a blend of mentoring, professional development, and formative evaluation, the program aims to ensure early-career teachers are equipped with the tools, resources, and guidance needed to thrive. The designation of “Beginning Teacher of the Year” honors an educator who demonstrates excellence in instruction, innovation in practice, and commitment to student success early in their career.

“Katie Rooney exemplifies the spirit of excellence and commitment we hope to inspire in every beginning teacher. Her impact has been immediate and profound,” Superintendent Melanie Shaver said. “She creates engaging, real-world learning experiences in health sciences that truly prepare our students for the future. Katie’s passion for education, her relationships with students and staff, and her tireless work ethic made her stand out among a remarkable group of new educators. We are so proud to have her representing Hyde County Schools at the district level.”

Bad news – Hyde County Sheriff’s Office arrested Stephen Rose and Kristen Swindell on various charges, including larceny and breaking and entering – see the end of the story. 

Offer prayers for the family of Captain David Midyette Jr. of Scranton who passed away May 23. Click here for the obituary.  

“David was a self-sufficient, hardworking man who was content with the simpler things in life. He had a love of being on the water and enjoyed fishing, oystering, and shrimping,” Midyette’s obituary said.

Proposed County Budget For FY 2025-26

Hyde County’s proposed budget for 2025-26 appears to be a sensible budget that seeks to hold the line on expenses, consolidate resources to improve efficiency and hold the line on taxes.

County Manager Kris Cahoon Noble introduced the budget Thursday at a special meeting of the Hyde County Commission. The proposed budget seeks to trim costs by further consolidating public services and hiring four additional EMS workers. Tax Administration seeks a tax collector and assessor. Economic Development will be reestablished/restructured without an overall cost increase to the county.

“It is the goal of the County Manager to maintain this rate with no increases for the upcoming year with a multi year goal to decrease the tax rate by utilizing other sources of revenue while also streamlining and creatively consolidating our services to achieve cost savings,” she said.

The good news is that the property tax rate will remain the same at 92¢ per $100 valuation with no ad valorem tax increase. 

Bad news – user fees for solid waste disposal may be ahead. Presently, the money to pay for solid waste disposal comes from property tax revenue.  This budget seeks to implement a fee of $180 per year for homes and a $400 per year fee for businesses.  

“While this method is not the most precise way to assign cost to the users, the implementation of this method this year coupled with detailed analysis of our fee structure options and public input meetings in the fall will lead to a fee structure being implemented in the next fiscal year that should be based on usage and receipt and should relieve tax burdens to those individuals that are not heavy users of solid waste services,” Noble said.  

As everyone knows, prices have increased because of inflation, labor costs and insurance rates.

“Hyde County is in good financial condition. However, some effects of the economy including inflation, cost, and potentially decrease in tourism dollars remain a concern. This budget contains conservative revenue projections and cautionary spending,” Noble said.

Moreover, the FY 2025-26 proposed general fund budget is $19,044,012 — up from the FY 2024-25 adopted general fund budget of $18,581,397.

“The primary increases consist of continued employee benefit costs, including salary adjustments to enhance staff retention and recruitment efforts, significant increases in general operational costs, and the rising cost to provide public safety services, including, but not limited to, law enforcement and EMS services,” Noble said.  

There will be a public hearing to discuss the proposed budget on 6 p.m. June 2 at the county building, with budget workshops scheduled for June 3-4. A final public hearing will begin at 9 a.m. June 5 with the final adoption of the budget is poised at 9 a.m. June 12

Unlike many counties, including Hyde County in past years, no appropriation from the general fund balance will needed to balance the budget.

“This budget has been created to ensure Hyde County meets its strategic goals to the greatest of its capacity and that prioritize areas of public safety services, innovative and comprehensive water flow control and stormwater management, advocating and partnering to ensure transportation access along our roadways and waterways, and economic and community development projects funded creatively from federal and state resources, including but not limited to grants and leveraged cooperatively services has increased steadily due to our current economic conditions,” she said. 

Noble said increasing the fund balance, aka the rainy day fund, is important.

“Gradually increasing our fund balance must be a priority to ensure adequate funds are available if a disaster strikes,” she said.

Noble said the county has come out of a period where the general fund balance was being gradually eroded each year. 

“The 2023-24 audit showed a small increase in fund balance, and that was a very small increase, but a big victory for our staff because that’s been our major objective of ours,” she said. “Our county should ensure its fund balance remains healthy to adequately address unforeseen emergencies and disasters. No appropriations from our general fund balance is recommended in this budget.” 

User Fees For Waste Disposal

Noble explained why a user fee model vs a tax model is better to handle costs associated with solid waste dispoals. She said the benefit of financing solid waste removal with property tax is the predictability of that revenue stream. The drawbacks include the tax being levied on all real and personal property, except for the statutorily exempt, regardless of whether the property owner benefits from that service. In contrast to tax money taken from everyone whether or not they need trash disposal, a user fee model would be more equitable because it distributes costs to users which may reduce the burden on the tax base.

Noble said the user fee is the first step towards a more equitable distribution of solid waste expenses that reflect the usage of those services. The county should adopt an ordinance providing that any fee imposed may be billed with our property taxes. She said the fees may be payable in the same manner as our property taxes, and then the case of nonpayment may be collected in any manner by which the delinquent personal or real property taxes can be collected.

This budget seeks to implement a fee of $180 per year for homes and a $400 per year fee for businesses.  

“This budget recommends and reflects revenues from implementing user fees for solid waste services in a multi-year effort to create a solid waste public enterprise fund,” Noble said. “A public enterprise fund like the Hyde County Utilities Department would have self-sustaining revenues to support solid waste expenses. This will more fairly distribute the cost of solid waste services to the users, creating a more stable tax rate for all property owners.” 

Economy of Scale

The proposed budget seeks to trim costs by consolidating public services. 

“The 2025-26 budget seeks unprecedented consolidation of all public safety services under one umbrella in order to achieve economy of scale and cost savings and additionally create a synergy between the different branches of our public services, resulting in the most affordable and reliable public safety services available to us,” Noble said.   

Noble said the consolidation of those public safety services seeks to build on gains in organization and staffing within the past two years. She said based on data from that system’s operation within the last year, four additional EMS positions are needed to ensure there are no incidences where coverage is not adequate. And the additional positions helps to eliminate eliminate overtime from the budget to stabilize our work schedules and our expenditures.

Tax Administration

The management structure of the tax office since the retirement of its long-term tax administrator has been completed by the IT administrator and public information officer, Noble said. 

Rather than reinstituting the tax administrator slot, the proposed budget seeks a tax collector and assessor. 

The management approach forgoes a tax administrator position for two positions, the tax collector and the tax assessor, to achieve our goals in the most efficient and effective manner possible,” Noble said. 

Noble said Hyde County currently has an unacceptable amount of prior year tax collections that must be addressed under this restructuring. She said initial work with staff has resulted in great improvements to collections, and plans to accelerate those efforts in this upcoming year will result in even higher collection rates.

“By developing the tax assessor position, which originally began within our recent revaluation, will result in much better tax data, land records, a much better land much more accurate land records, and a reduced cost for reevaluation as much of this work will now be brought in-house.

Moreover, efforts are underway to improve tax collection, which include a partnership with the NCACC through the NCACC strategic member services project to receive assistance. Noble said a strategic project coordinator will assist Hyde County with its efforts to restructure and improve our tax office this fiscal year. The assistance will come at no cost to Hyde County and will help transform the department. 

“This new management approach and additional resources will further the growth of our tax office with the goal of structuring a tax assessment and collection program that promotes fair and equitable tax assessment of collection processes,” she said. “Hyde County’s revenues will come more frequently and at a much lower cost, reducing the burden of taxpayers, and the collection process will evolve and make paying taxes in Hyde County as convenient as possible.” 

For more information about the proposed budget, go to the county’s web page.

Crime News

the Hyde County Sheriff’s Office, acting on information from the U.S. Marshals Service, responded to a tip regarding a possible suspect location in Swan Quarter, NC.

Upon arrival, deputies observed a vehicle turning around near the residence in question. When they reached the vehicle, it was found abandoned. After a brief investigation, it was determined that Kristen Swindell had been driving the vehicle, with Stephen Rose as the passenger. A K-9 unit and drone resources were deployed in the area to assist with the search. Both individuals were successfully located and taken into custody to the Dare County Detention Center.

Rose was arrested on multiple charges, including:

• Larceny after breaking or entering (3 counts)
• Felony Conspiracy (3 counts)
• Breaking or entering (3 counts)
• Forgery of Endorsement (1 count)
• Uttering Forged Endorsement (1 count)
• Obtaining Property by False Pretense (1 count)
• Aiding and Abetting Larceny (1 count)

Swindell was charged with an extensive list of offenses, including but not limited to:

• Attempt to Obtain Property by False Pretense (31 counts)
• Identity Theft (37 counts)
• Obtaining Property by False Pretense (16 counts)
• Financial Card Fraud (3 counts)
• Forgery of Endorsement (2 counts)
• Uttering Forged Endorsement (2 counts)
• Larceny by Employee (1 count)
• Felony Conspiracy (3 counts)
• Larceny after Breaking or Entering (3 counts)
• Breaking or Entering (3 counts)
• Larceny of a Chose in Action (1 count)
• Aiding and Abetting to Obtain Property by False Pretense (1 count)