County proposes small tax increase in budget

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The headline item in today’s $1.7 billion Mecklenburg County budget proposal is the implementation of the first phase of universal pre-K for 4-year-olds.

Mecklenburg County Manager Dena Diorio presented her Fiscal Year 2019 recommended budget to the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday and proposed an increase of $25 million, or 1.5 percent, over last year’s operating budget.

"To make these bold investments in early childhood education, a small tax increase is required," Diorio said during her presentation

Diorio made clear that the county’s current tax rate of 81.6 cents per $100 of assessed value has remained constant for five years. She described the approach to early childhood education as a “bold investments” that was worthy of the small tax increase.

The recommended budget includes a tax hike of ¾ of a cent, which will bring the county tax rate to 82.3 cents per $100 of assessed value.

A single-family home valued at $250,000 would pay $18.75 more per year, or $1.56 more per month.

That tax increase will generate an additional $9 million that would add 33 pre-K classrooms and serve 600 children.

The budget proposal also includes $700,000 for additional child care subsidy funding specifically for those enrolled in Mecklenburg County workforce development programs and $300,000 for Renaissance West, which will provide scholarships for up to 21 children at the Howard Levine Child Development Center and life navigators to support 42 parents in their paths to employment.

Republicans commissioners –  including Bill James – are hoping to find savings elsewhere to prevent even a nominal tax increase.

“I'm hopeful, but it's a board of six Democrats and three Republicans so the inclination is to spend and to raise taxes and I'm hoping that won't be the case this year," James said.

The county request comes after the city of Charlotte proposed an increase of $2.2 more per month for a $250,000 home.

The county and city are proposing a combined $3.74 monthly increase for the average taxpayer living in Charlotte.

Diorio defended the proposed tax increase after the presentation.

"Sometimes you have to find other revenue sources. And in this case, you know there was just not enough revenue to fund what we needed to fund as it relates to early childhood education and that has to be a priority in this community," Diorio said.

It would cost $9 million to cover preschool for the first group of 600 4-year-old students. That breaks down to $15,000 each.

Other proposed budget highlights:

• $1.6 million increase to CPCC's operating budget and $4 million for deferred maintenance of college facilities.
• $24.2 million increase to CMS budget, and fully funds CMS's request of $11.8 million for salary increases for locally funded employees, $3.5 million for increased costs for health insurance and retirement contributions, $3.4 million for charter school enrollment growth and $923,000 for additional facility space.
• CMS also requested $4.7 million for student support services. The Manager's Recommended Budget fully funds this request, and includes a one-time funding of $4.6 million for security enhancements throughout the district.
• The Recommended Budget includes $5.7 million in security-focused hardware and software upgrades, and adds 11 new positions to provide the support needed to advance the necessary security solutions for the County's IT infrastructure.

The Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners will hold a public hearing on the proposed budget on Monday, June 4 at 6 p.m. in the Meeting Chamber of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center.

Cox Media Group