Mecklenburg Co. manager proposes 2020 budget; includes property tax increase

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Hundreds of thousands of people could see a property tax increase under a proposed budget from Mecklenburg County Manager Dena Diorio.

Diorio unveiled the $1.9 billion dollar budget to county commissioners Thursday.

The budget rolls back the tax rate from 82.32 cents to 61.69 cents, a 25 percent difference. The proposed tax rate is 1.99 cents above the revenue neutral rate.

“We felt comfortable that this is a sweet spot and does the investments we need to do and not create significant hardship on taxpayers,” Diorio said.

With a tax rate of 61.69 cents, 65 percent of residential properties and 71 percent of commercial properties would see increased tax bills. Of those increases, 54 percent of residential properties and 89 percent of commercial properties would see increases of more than $10 a month.

The county says a home valued at $250,000 with a 56.82 percent increase in value ($392,050) would see a tax increase of $361, which is around $30 a month. If the $250,000 home has a 40.41 percent increase in value ($351,025), the tax bill would rise by $107, which is less than $9 a month.

“Based on all of the investments that we made we knew it couldn’t stay at revenue neutral,” Diorio said. “We tried really hard to keep the tax rate as low as we could.”

Included in the FY20 budget:

The $1.9 billion budget is an increase of $158 million from FY19. The budget provides CMS with $534 million, an increase of $50 million. The budget includes $8 million to increase the local supplement, which would make CMS teachers the highest paid in the state. The budget includes $7.2 million for phase one market adjustments for hourly staff in CMS, bringing their rate to $13.22 per hour. The budget would provide CMS with $5.7 million for mental health support staff. That money would translate into 27 social workers, 10 psychologists, 10 counselors and 8 coordinators. The budget includes $4.6 million for school security enhancements.

The budget provides $36.9 million for the expansion of universal Pre-K, an increase of $21.1 million dollars. Of that funding, $14 million is dedicated to clearing the childcare subsidy waiting list. The county estimates 1,5000 children from birth to 5 would be impacted. The county says $7 million will add 36 classrooms to bring the total number to 69.

Mecklenburg County is poised to make a big splash in affordable housing. The proposed budget provides $22.5 million for affordable housing, an increase of $15.2 million. The county says $11.2 million would be used to create a rental subsidy program. The county would also provide $500,000 to Legal Aid of North Carolina to relocate its office to county owned property and hire eight more staff. Mecklenburg County estimates the new staff for Legal Aid will result in 500 more households being served each year.

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Vice Chair Elaine Powell said she was hoping for more for parks and greenways. She says she has concerns about the tax rate being above revenue neutral and she wants to hear more from the community.

“I do have concerns about being above revenue neutral but I think it is crystal clear why we are,” Powell said. “I think it is important to be fiscally conservative but it is also important to fund education.”

A public hearing will be held on May 9. County Commissioners will adopt the budget June 4.

Cox Media Group