Sampson County board re-elects leadership, appoints library member and kicks off budget process

At the start of the meeting county commissioners re-elected leadership for the coming year. The county manager opened nominations and the board nominated and affirmed Alan McClam to continue as chairman. Eric Pope was nominated and re-elected as vice chairman.

The board filled a library-board vacancy: the library director requested the appointment of Rosemary Simpson to a new four-year term beginning January 2026 and commissioners voted to approve the appointment.

County Manager announced that the budget process for the next fiscal year has begun and said the administration plans to follow a 0-based budgeting philosophy to identify savings while aiming to secure a cost-of-living adjustment for county employees; the manager said department-head work on milestones will continue through adoption in June.

The board later moved into a closed session under North Carolina statute regarding attorney–client privilege and returned before adjourning.

Next steps: the board will continue the budget process with milestones through June and staff will report back on implementation of the 0-based budgeting approach and any recommended COLA.