Raleigh’s draft budget cuts spending but raises tax rate. How much you could pay.
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Raleigh proposed a 1.7 cent increase to boost stalling property tax revenue.
- Proposed budget is about $1.76 billion, roughly a 1% drop from $1.78 billion.
- If both pass, a $391,000 home would pay about $145 more, totaling nearly $3,550.
Raleigh’s city manager on Tuesday proposed a smaller budget but a higher tax rate to counter stalling property tax revenue.
City Manager Marchell Adams-David’s proposed fiscal year 2027 budget of $1.76 billion is about 1% less than this year’s budget of $1.78 billion.
But it contains a tax rate increase of 1.7 cents per $100 of assessed property value.
The new tax rate of 37.2 cents would see the owner of a roughly $391,000 home, the median assessed value in Raleigh, pay a city property tax of about $1,454.50. That’s a nearly $67 increase over the current tax rate.
The proposed budget includes 23 new police officer positions and a dozen new firefighter positions, but it eliminates 45 currently vacant city positions and holds vacant another 26 positions.
“The proposed budget protects our existing services while adjusting to the realities of the fiscal pressures we currently face,” Adams-David said in a news release. “It reflects difficult decisions, grounded in fiscal stewardship, that position Raleigh to sustain the high standards of service our community deserves.”
Wake County also considering tax increase
Meanwhile, Wake County Manager David Ellis has proposed raising the county’s tax rate 2 cents, to 53.71 cents per $100. For a $391,000-valued Raleigh home, that would add about $78 to the current Wake County tax bill of about $2,022.
If both tax rate increases are approved, they would result in a total city and county property tax bill of nearly $3,554.50, a roughly $145 increase.
The City Council will vote on its budget in June.
This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 2:38 PM.
