Tax proposal draws fire

Morrisville rate too high for many

MORRISVILLE -- Fixed incomes, potential layoffs and increased cost-of-living expenses were among the objections Morrisville residents voiced Wednesday against a proposed tax increase.

The proposed tax rate of 43.96 cents per $100 valuation is more than 7 cents or 19 percent above a "revenue-neutral" rate. That rate would mean the owner of a $200,000 home would pay about $878 in city taxes.

If the proposed budget is passed, Morrisville will have the largest tax increase of any town in Wake County. Nearby Cary increased its taxes 1.9 percent.

Revenue-neutral describes a tax rate that is lowered to compensate for a revaluation in which property values are increased, keeping the actual money raised by taxes the same as before the revaluation. Wake County's latest property tax revaluation, the first since 2000, became effective Jan. 1.

Town Manager John Whitson presented the budget Wednesday night before a concerned and disgruntled crowd that filled the board room at Morrisville's town hall. Former town Commissioner Jackie Holcombe and others stood outside town hall, handing out "cut spending" signs and promoting their new group, morrisvilleaction.org.

The proposed budget includes pay increases for town personnel and a 7.4 percent raise for the town manager. A large expenditure to replace Fire Station 1 was questioned by several people.

Whitson said $5.7 million in bond money originally earmarked to build a fire station was not enough for the project. So the money was used to buy and renovate the empty Stewart Engineering building for the Police Department, and also to improve the parking lot.

"It is obscene the way we are wasting money," Mary Fiore said. "My parents were raised during two world wars and the Great Depression, and when things got tough, you cut the fluff."

Fiore said she thinks the budget can be reduced by $500,000 by cutting office supplies in half and doing away with $15,000 allotted for dues and subscriptions.

Judy Springer fears losing her dream home that she and her husband bought upon retiring.

"Timing is just everything in this," Springer said. "The economy has taken a downturn, and 19 percent is something we can't live with."

"I live and work in Morrisville," David Ottaway said. "We need a plan and a set of priorities that represent the community. We live within our means, and it's time Morrisville did the same."

Several commissioners also disagreed with the proposed tax increase.

"I'm not in support of the budget being that high over revenue-neutral rate," Commissioner Pete Martin said. "It is not the purpose of us as commissioners."

"I'm having trouble with it right now," Commissioner Tom Murry said. "I want to hear from the public and meet in the middle. I'm not supporting [the budget] as it is written now."