Orange County negotiates higher tax rate for schools, modifies Chapel Hill library cut
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- Commissioners negotiated a 4.22-cent tax rate increase.
- The new county tax rate will be 68.05 cents, raising a $3,402.50 bill on a $500,000 home.
- Draft schools budget totals $116 million; per-student funding is $6,290 (+$413).
Orange County residents can expect to pay higher property taxes next year, some of which will be used to budget another $1.6 million for local schools.
The Orange County commissioners negotiated a 4.22-cent per $100 of assessed value tax rate increase Thursday before voting 6-1 to support a “resolution of intent” to approve next year’s $327 million budget.
The board also weighed options for funding the Chapel Hill Public Library before voting to phase out the county’s $621,323 contribution over the next three years.
Commissioner Earl McKee voted against the draft budget resolution, saying he could not support a higher tax rate increase. Commissioners Marilyn Carter and Phyllis Portie-Ascott supported the budget resolution, but joined McKee to vote unsuccessfully against an additional 0.47-cent per $100 tax rate increase.
The final budget vote is set for June 16.
The county is facing pressure to rein in spending as state and federal funding shrinks for schools and social services, such as SNAP food benefits and Medicaid, passing mandated costs on to local governments.
Cities and counties are also being squeezed by the state’s Blue Ridge tax loophole, which lets for-profit developers avoid paying taxes if a nonprofit partner owns a fraction of their property. State lawmakers are looking this year at ways to close the loophole.
Orange County is also poised to assume more debt over the next decade, including for voter-approved school bond projects. Next year’s debt includes $112.5 million for schools projects and $24.4 million for county projects.
The commissioners relieved some of that pressure Thursday by voting to delay construction of new Frank Porter Graham Bilingüe Elementary and Orange Middle schools by one year, and a new Estes Hills Elementary School by two years.
What about property taxes?
- The new county tax rate will be 68.05 cents — 0.47 cents more than County Manager Travis Myren had proposed.
- It will generate a $3,402.50 county tax bill for the owner of a $500,000 home, a $211 increase.
- Chapel Hill and Carrboro residents also pay town and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district taxes. The budget keeps the school district tax rate at 14.79 cents per $100 in assessed property value.
- Hillsborough residents, who live in the Orange County Schools district, only pay town and county taxes.
What will local schools get next year?
The commissioners backed Chair Jean Hamilton’s recommendation, which called for tapping several pots to find more money for the schools.
“I think we need to remember schools are our foundation. They’re a foundation for economic development — if we want to get companies to come here, they’re going to want their employees to have good schools for their children,” Hamilton said. Also, “the more we have schools that meet the needs of our children ... we reduce crime and other costs to our society.”
The draft, $116.3 million schools budget includes:
- Per-student funding: $6,290 per enrolled student, an increase of $413 each.
- Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools: $67.6 million, plus about $30 million from the school district tax.
- Orange County Schools: $48.7 million.
- Outcome: The draft budget is over $6 million less than what the districts wanted to pay rising costs and increase teacher and staff wages. It also funds nearly $6.7 million of the $10 million in annual construction spending that schools were expecting.
What about Chapel Hill library funding?
The board also backed Commissioner Sally Greene’s recommendation to phase out the county’s $621,323 Chapel Hill Public Library contribution over three years. The library would get $414,216 next fiscal year, with a potential cut to just over $207,000 in 2027-28.
The contribution now represents about 14% of the library’s $4.3 million operations and personnel budget. Myren’s recommendation to eliminate the funding over two years prompted the Friends of the Chapel Hill Public Library to launch a campaign to save the funding.
Town officials have said the library could charge county residents who live outside Chapel Hill a $65 fee for library cards if the funding is cut.
The funding hasn’t always been certain, Greene said, but it was supposed to ensure county residents could use the town’s library. The modified plan attempts “to reset the relationship,” she said.
“I do think we didn’t give the town enough notice,” Greene said. “I’ve watched their budget session. I heard their own budget director say in that work session that if she had more notice she would have been able to work the gap into their proposed budget.”
Commissioner Amy Fowler said she supports the change, “but I’m hoping that we don’t continue to decrease it, because I would imagine that at least half of the [county residents] using it are using it because they can’t afford books and don’t want to have to pay fees.”
What do county employees get?
- Pay raises: County employees will get a 2% raise next year, plus merit pay.
- Staff changes: A hiring freeze now includes five vacant Sheriff’s Office positions, and the draft budget cuts 13 more jobs. It uses existing money to hire a county transportation driver, Health Department deputy director, and behavioral health director.
- Step Program: The commissioners kept $410,000 in the budget to give tenure-based raises to Social Services, Emergency Services and Sheriff’s Office employees.
