CHARLOTTE — At long last, North Carolina has a budget. Lawmakers unveiled it Tuesday and could take votes this week. The Political Beat is diving into what is in the document more than two years in the making. At a high level, the budget includes:
- $700 million in Hurricane Helene relief funding.
- An average 8% raise for teachers.
- An average 13% raise for law enforcement.
- An income tax cut from 3.99% to 3.49% for the next three tax years.
- $208.5 million for a children’s hospital in the Triangle.
[ ALSO READ: Charlotte City Council passes 2027 operating budget ]
Here are a few other key provisions of the budget:
I-77 South tolls:
North Carolina lawmakers will make communities opposed to the I-77 toll lane project pay back the state for sunk costs. The state spent more than $60 million on the project before the CRTPO pulled the plug. All new state funded projects in opposed municipalities will be paused until the state is paid back and the share each city and town will have to pay aligns with their vote share on the CRTPO.
There is an out.
The budget says any community that reverses its stance at a new vote by the CRTPO within 90 days of the budget’s passage will not have to pay back the state.
Dominique Moody:
Unaffiliated Rep. Carla Cunningham’s Dominique Moody Act is in the budget. It was created in response to the death of Charlotte 6-year-old Dominique Moody. It will create a child welfare escalation team that will step in to investigate high-risk cases when there are signs of abuse and neglect. The budget adds $650,000 to fund the positions.
Data centers:
North Carolina lawmakers are cracking down on data centers. The budget removes the sales tax exemption that data centers get on electricity purchases. This is something Gov. Josh Stein called on the legislature to do. This will only impact electricity purchased or billed after the budget passes.
Gambling:
If your parlay doesn’t pay off, it could at tax season or at least it won’t penalize you even more. In the budget, state lawmakers are allowing deductions for gambling losses. This would be retroactive to Jan. 1. Sports betting operators like DraftKings and FanDuel would have to pay more in taxes, increasing from 18% to 23%. Prediction markets would also face a 6% fee on net trading fee revenues.
Baseball:
Professional baseball isn’t in the budget, but several youth baseball leagues are set to benefit. Some of these leagues provide other sports as well.
In our area, the budget provides:
- $184,000 to the Mint Hill Athletic Association.
- $534,000 to the Matthews Athletic and Recreation Association.
- $50,000 to the Anson Athletic Association.
Outside our area, the Miracle League of the Triangle is receiving $600,000, and Kernersville Little League is getting $170,000.
Charlotte Water:
The budget could also impact how much water Charlotte can pull from the Catawba River. Charlotte Water is asking the DEQ for permission to pull 30 million more gallons of water to serve the growing eastern part of Mecklenburg County. The problem is that water doesn’t go back into the Catawba. It’s transferred into the Rocky River Basin. It’s called an interbasin transfer. Last session, state lawmakers passed a moratorium preventing this transfer request from moving forward until March 2027. If the budget passes, that moratorium is extended to August 2028.
A spokesperson for Charlotte Water says the utility has concerns about the provision
“Charlotte Water is focused on providing service to communities across our region, which includes supporting reasonable and planned growth in the region and across the state, including communities like Huntersville, Cornelius, Davidson, Mint Hill, and Matthews as well as those that rely on our regional service in Cabarrus and Union counties,” a spokesperson for Charlotte Water said. “We are concerned that provisions in the budget will negatively impact Charlotte Water’s ability to provide the services our region and state rely on. As we did last year, when we arrived at a compromise solution that the legislature passed, Charlotte Water welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with stakeholders from across the state to develop shared solutions that support the needs of communities across the region and state.”
Airport negotiations:
As Charlotte negotiates a new lease with American Airlines, the state budget is clarifying and closing loopholes that impact the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU. The SEIU doesn’t formally represent subcontractors at the airport but has served as their spokesperson in efforts to secure wage improvements and key benefits in the new airline use lease agreement. The budget says it is illegal for any local government to withhold a permit, license or any type of financial assistance based on a business refusing to sign an agreement with a labor group.