Matthews Messenger - May 2023

MAY 2023

Volume 5 — Issue 5

Matthews Police Officers were treated with Chick-fil-A while working at the Matthews Sportsplex.

In this issue...

3 4 5

MATTHEWSNC.GOV

@TOWNOFMATTHEWS

@MATTHEWSNC

TOWN OF MATTHEWS

Manager Presents Recommended Budget for Fiscal Year 23-24 Talia Hood Named Employee of the Year May is Mental Health Awareness Month

www.matthewsnc.gov

@TOWNOFMATTHEWS

Matthews Messenger | MAY 2023

MANAGER’S MESSAGE I hope you will make plans to join us this weekend for BeachFest Matthews. This annual event is fun for the whole family as we welcome in summer time with some great music, food, games, rides and more. Read more below. A portion of Trade Street will be closed for BeachFest so be sure to check out that information also included below.

Earlier this week, I presented the recommended budget to the Board of Commissioners.

This balanced budget sets a strong foundation for the year ahead and includes significant expansions in operations to meet the needs of the organzation.

More information can be found on page 3.

The next step in the process is a budget workshop to be held on Monday, May 15. Read more

about the budget and the timeline on page 3.

We are very pleased to recognize Talia Hood as the 2022 Town of Matthews Employee of the Year! Read more about Talia and her great work for the Town on page 4.

The Matthews Committee on Education (MCE) is sharing some important resources in this month's newsletter in recognition of May being Mental Health Awareness Month. See more on page 5.

Check out the calendar on page 6 for Matthews events and Board of Commissioners meetings so you can stay involved and engaged in all that Matthews has to offer.

Becky Hawke TOWN MANAGER BHAWKE@MATTHEWSNC.GOV

Melia Gordon ASSISTANT TOWN MANAGER MGORDON@MATTHEWSNC.GOV

Road Closure Alert To accommodate pedestrians and vendors, Trade Street will close between John Street and McDowell Street on Friday, May 12 at 9:00 am. The Trade Street closure will move to Main Street at 3:30 pm until midnight on Saturday evening. For more information and a detour route, click here: https:// www.matthewsnc.gov/ newsview.aspx?nid=6861

2

Matthews Messenger | MAY 2023

TOWN MANAGER PRESENTS RECOMMENDED BUDGET TO BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Town Manager Becky Hawke presented the recommended budget for the Town of Matthews Fiscal Year (FY) 2023-2024 during the May 8 Town Board meeting.

The balanced budget sets a strong foundation for the upcoming fiscal year to continue providing high quality services to the Matthews community.

The budget also includes significant expansions in operations to meet the needs of the organization. This includes funding for Fire Station #3, increased solid waste costs, increased funding for paving maintenance, and fully funding a competitive employee pay plan, among others. These expansions are funded through a combination of increased revenues, retiring debt service, and otherwise conservative funding across many individual budget lines.

The recommended budget sets the new tax rate at 26.65-cents per hundred, which is an effective increase of 3.96-cents per hundred above the revenue neutral tax rate. This represents a 17.5% increase over the revenue neutral rate.

The budget process continues with a workshop to be held on Monday, May 15. See below for the complete budget timeline.

Citizens are invited to provide their input during the public hearing scheduled for May 22 or by contacting the Board of Commissioners directly.

The Recommended FY 23-24 Annual Budget totals $34,364,889, which reflects a 20% increase over the FY 23 Original Budget ($28,541,985) and a 1% decrease from the FY 23 Amended Budget of $34,719,333.

The Mecklenburg County Assessor’s Office has completed revaluation of real property for 2024. Total real property values in Matthews are expected to increase 33.6% over 2023 actual values, from $5.414 billion to $7.231 billion.

Factoring in the revaluation of real property, the revenue neutral tax rate for FY 23-24 is 22.69-cents per hundred.

3

Matthews Messenger | MAY 2023

MATTHEWS RECOGNIZES 2022 EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR TALIA HOOD During the Town Board meeting earlier this week, Talia Hood was recognized as the Employee of the Year for 2022.

Talia began her career with Matthews in 2016 as a dispatcher for the Police Department. In April of 2018, Talia was promoted to Telecommunications Supervisor and in February of 2022, she was promoted to the Administrative Services Manager.

Town Manager Becky Hawke said, “As Administrative Services Manager, Talia has worked hard to make meaningful changes to the Records and Communications Divisions to set the department up for success. Additionally, her willingness to step in and cover shifts while managing the hardship of significant position vacancies shows that she is a great leader who knows the value of teamwork.”

Interim Police Chief KD Williams said, “In a time of uncertainty caused by the lasting effects of the pandemic, the current workforce applicant pool, and managing employees on the verge of burnout, Talia has remained the concrete that has held up the structure of the Department’s Records and Communications teams. Her positive mindset and professional demeanor are of great credit to herself, the Matthews Police Department, and the Town of Matthews.”

From left to right: Interim Police Chief KD Williams, Human Resources Director Tonya McGovern, Employee of the Year Talia Hood, Town Manager Becky Hawke and Mayor John Higdon 4

Matthews Messenger | MAY 2023

MAY IS MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS MONTH May is Mental Health Awareness Month and the Matthews Committee on Education would like to bring awareness to the importance of taking care of your and your students’ mental health. The Committee has curated some resources that Town residents can use to support their students’ mental health, especially as students prepare for the changes of summer.

CriSys Mecklenburg County Crisys provides mental health, substance abuse, and situational crisis intervention services to Mecklenburg County residents. https://crisysasg.org/ Mental Health America (MHA) of Central Carolinas The MHA of Central Carolinas provides opportunities for people to engage with mental health supports in the community. https://mhaofcc.org/about-us CASEL Interactive Wheel for SEL The CASEL wheel identifies 5 competencies of Social Emotional Learning that you can explore with your student throughout the summer. https://casel.org/fundamentals-of-sel/what-is-the-caselframework/#interactive-casel-wheel School-Based Mental Health The school-based mental health (SBMH) program collaborates between Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS), Mecklenburg County, and several local mental health agencies. The purpose of the SBMH program is to increase the availability of evidence-based mental health services to improve students' emotional well-being and enhance their ability to access and benefit from instruction. https://www.cmsk12.org/Page/710

5

Matthews Messenger | MAY 2023

Upcoming Events

Any questions? Contact us! may

12

Friday

4:00 pM beachfest matthewws

13

Saturday

10:00 am beachfest matthews

15

Monday

6:00 PM budget workshop

16

Tuesday

6:00 PM cultural diversity committee meeting

18

Thursday

7:00 pm transportation advisory cmte Meeting

22

Monday

7:00 pm board of commissioners meeting

23

Tuesday

4:30 pM economic development advisory cmte meeting

23

Tuesday

7:00 pm planning board meeting

24

Wednesday

8:00 am car seat checking station

25

Thursday

5:00 pm envision matthews open house

26

Friday

5:00 pm beats 'n bites

For additional details, please visit: www.matthewsnc.gov/calendar.ASPX

Town of Matthews Board of Commissioners

Have any questions about the community? Contact us!

Mayor John Higdon mayorhigdon@matthewsnc.gov

Commissioner mark tofano mtofano@matthewsnc.gov

Mayor Pro Tem Ken McCool kmccool@matthewsnc.gov

Commissioner John Urban jurban@matthewsnc.gov

PHONE

Commissioner Renee garner rgarner@matthewsnc.gov

Commissioner Larry Whitley lwhitley@matthewsnc.gov

E-MAIL

Commissioner gina hoover ghoover@matthewsnc.gov

6

TOWN HALL

232 Matthews Station St. | Matthews, NC 28105 (704) 847- 4411 matthews@matthewsnc.gov WEB

www.matthewsnc.gov