Wake may hike property tax amid budget strains to fund education, public safety

Wake County residents could see an increase to their property tax bills to fund education and public safety under a proposed budget plan released Monday.

The tax rate increase of 2 cents per $100 of assessed property value would cost the owner of a $450,000 home, the median assessed value in Wake County, an extra $90 in their county tax bill. That doesn’t include additional property taxes that cities and towns also charge.

County Manager David Ellis is also proposing spending $35 million from county reserves to fund the budget. That’s the first time he’s proposed doing so on a budget in his eight years as manager, he said.

The additional funds contribute to a nearly $2.3 billion budget for fiscal year 2027, an approximately 5.4% increase over last year’s nearly $2.2 billion budget.

The County Commissioners are weighing the budget in the midst of woes created by property tax exemptions and appeals that have led to tens of millions less in revenue than original projections.

The war in Iran also contributes to a lot of uncertainty in the budget and economy, Ellis outlined in his proposal.

“Our inspectors and social workers drive a lot, and the additional cost to fill up their county vehicles adds up quickly,” he wrote in the budget proposal. “We must account for the rising cost of gasoline in this budget.”

He said in an interview that the county is just starting to see some of the war’s affects, and cost projections have to catch up.

What’s the county proposing to spend the extra money on?

• Fully funding a request from Wake County Public Schools for an additional $25.3 million
• 153 new employees with a total cost of about $15 million. That includes new employees for county jails, new EMT positions and more Medicaid administration positions
• An additional $2 million for pre-K programs
• Wake Tech needs another $1.8 million to fund its budget
• Around $20 million in employee pay increases

What’s causing some of the county’s budget woes?

The state isn’t fully funding education or the justice system, which means the county has to cover the gaps, Ellis said.

While counties are expected to cover capital costs like new school buildings for the school system, the state is generally expected to cover operating costs, Ellis said. The state isn’t fully doing that, he said.

Wake County jails are also over capacity in part because of Iryna’s Law, which restricts bail for people accused of violent crimes, Ellis said. Wake County also has to hold around 100 state prison inmates because state prisons are understaffed.

If the state fully funded its responsibilities, Ellis said, the property tax rate would be around 30 cents per $100, down from his proposal of 53.71 cents per $100. For the owner of a $450,000-assessed home, that would mean a drop of about $1,000 in the county’s property taxes.

“But, by pushing financial responsibility to the counties, they are forcing our hand and causing us to raise your taxes,” he wrote in his budget proposal.

The county commissioners have advocated with the state to expand property tax relief for low-income residents, veterans and the elderly over the past three years to no avail, Ellis said.

Local governments across the state are also feeling the effects of lowered estimates for property tax revenue caused by property tax exemptions and appeals, he said.

One property tax exemption in particular, called the “Blue Ridge” loophole, will cost the county $12.3 million in fiscal year 2027, Ellis said.

The loophole allowed a for-profit investor who owned 99.9% of an apartment complex to be exempt from taxes because 0.1% of the complex was owned by a nonprofit. The exemption is permitted under state law, but legislators are considering ways to close the loophole.

And after the county conducted its revaluation of property values in 2024, property values rose sharply — by an average of 50%. Thousands of homeowners and companies appealed those increases, which are projected to take away about $18 million in tax revenue from the county in fiscal year 2027.

To address rising property taxes across the state, legislators have proposed limiting the gross amount of property taxes that each local government can levy. County leaders have said that proposal could hurt their largest funding source and take away local control of budgets.

What are Wake County schools getting?

Wake County Superintendent Robert Taylor said the $25 million in requested new county funding would pay for things such as the cost to open a new school, the district’s share of projected state pay raises for teachers and maintaining magnet school programs as federal grants expire, The News & Observer previously reported.

The request is less than the school system’s average annual ask of an additional $49.7 million increase in recent years, The News & Observer previously reported.

The school system is looking at a number of cuts, including cutting from its transportation budget and removing some assistant principal positions.

What’s the county spending on public safety?

The county’s jails are facing overcrowding. As of Monday, they held around 1,700 inmates, according to the Wake County Sheriff’s Office’s inmate catalog. That’s around 200 more inmates than the county typically has the capacity to hold, and inmates have been sleeping on mattresses on the floor.

The county has already approved plans to build a new wing on its main jail on Hammond Road and temporarily reopen an older jail building on the same road to accommodate additional need.

As part of reopening the older jail building, called the detention center annex, the county plans to hire 92 new employees at county jails, totalling an additional $7 million. The annex is supposed to open sometime in the first quarter of 2027, and it will add 240 beds to the county’s inmate capacity.

The county is also planning to hire 16 new EMTs in response to a 4% increase in 911 calls in 2025 over 2024.

The process

The commissioners are set to vote on the county budget on June 1.

The county will hold several work sessions and public hearings on the budget in the interim. On May 11, the commissioners will hold their first work session on the budget at 2 p.m. at the Wake County Justice Center, with a public hearing on the budget at 7 p.m. at the Wake County Commons Building the same day.

Residents can read the budget and submit public comment at wake.gov/budget.

This story was originally published May 4, 2026 at 8:04 PM.

Nolan Wilkinson

The News & Observer