Tammy Grubb
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
(TNS)
Chapel Hill may have to raises taxes this year to start paying for over $60 million in critical needs, repairs and core services.
The backlog is one of three “hard truths” that the town has to face in planning its budgets over the next five years, Interim Town Manager Chris Blue and senior town staff told the Town Council at Saturday’s annual retreat.
Blue noted the town is failing to provide employees with the resources to do their jobs and to pay them competitive wages, as well as meet the critical affordable housing need.
“It may seem like our needs are overwhelming, and in some respects, they are,” Blue said.
“None of what we’re talking about here is extravagance. These are essential needs,” he said. “I look at our budget adds and expansion requests from year to year. There’s no gold-plated toilets in there.”
Chapel Hill, like many other governments, is not seeing its revenues keep up with the rising cost to provide services, staff said. Amy Oland, business management director, noted the consumer price index, which measures the cost of goods and services, is up 8.6%.
Staff burnout and turnover also is high, staff said, as employees leave to seek better pay and homes they can afford in other communities.
The town’s services are also showing cracks, they said, with nine of the town’s 16 garbage trucks recently taken off the road for repairs, and 60 out of 80 police vehicles due for replacement. Police cars last an average of three to four years, Blue said.
In addition, three of the town’s five fire stations no longer meet firefighting needs, fire trucks are being taken off line for repairs, and the town still needs a new training facility, Chapel Hill Fire Chief Vence Harris said. He noted that Station 4 on Weaver Dairy Road Extension was shut down in October and November, because four of its eight trucks were being repaired.
Tax rate increases, town priorities
Staff presented a few options, including one that would raise $11 million over five years by implementing a 4-cent per $100 valuation tax rate increase next year, followed by 1.5-cent increases in each of the following four years.
The town’s tax rate is now 52.2 cents per $100 in property value, amounting to a $2,088 town tax bill for the owner of a $400,000 home. An additional penny on the current rate raises about $958,000 for the town and costs the owner of a $400,000 home an extra $40 a year.
Staff also offered less ambitious plans, including one that would meet roughly $5 million in parks, vehicles and facility needs with a 5.65-cent tax rate increase over five years.
A third plan would raise roughly $1.3 million over five years for parks and affordable housing, by requiring only a 1.3-cent tax rate increase this year.
“We just can’t keep putting things off,” Blue said. “We have significant backlogs of unmet needs, from police cars and playgrounds to fire trucks and frontline staff, and we’ve really got to start taking some decisive action.”
The proposed plan would spend at least $9 million over the next five years to:
▪ Attract and retain quality employees: The town needs to offer fair and equitable wages and a better work/life balance, Blue said. Employees also need reliable equipment to do their jobs.
Backlog: $1 million for employee recruitment and retention and $3.2 million to add new positions
Five-year spending goal: $2.5 million
▪ Provide core services: The cost is rising, and the town is running out of one-time pandemic recovery funds that have paid for technology needs and programs. Town departments have already cut the fat from their budgets, Blue said.
Backlog: $6.8 million
Five-y