Under the recommended 2024-25 budget of Fayetteville City Manager Doug Hewett — which he presented to Fayetteville City Council at Monday’s meeting — residents could see a 5-cent property tax rate increase per $100 property valuation and increases in several monthly service fees.
Hewett proposed a $1 monthly increase in the stormwater fee, bringing the rate to $7 a month. He also proposed a $10 annual increase to the solid waste fee. The recommended tax and fee increases would result in a $6 monthly increase for a house valued at $100,000, Hewett said.
Hewett also recommended an 11-cent property rate increase to the Municipal Service District, a tax levied on downtown property. Hewett said this increase would provide for enhanced services in the district.
Hewett said the recommended property ad valorem tax rate of 58.95 cents per $100 of assessed value would mainly go toward providing $8.3 million for Fayetteville Police Department and Fire Department pay increases to meet market rates. The city has been dealing with a recruitment and retention problem in both departments.
The city’s total recommended budget grew by $8.8 million compared to last year’s budget, or about 2.83%, Hewett said. He recommended the Office of Community Safety (OCS) be funded with about $3.96 million, including $1.5 million in new general funds.
Hewett said that the council will have ample time to make revisions to the budget, with several discussions planned for the rest of May and into June.
“We’re here until the council is satisfied, until we get a budget that you like,” Hewett said. “Our hope is that we would be able to look to adopting the budget on June 10, but we have until the end of June to do so, all at the council’s pleasure.”
Council Member Mario Benavente expressed a desire to have an in-depth conversation during Thursday’s upcoming budget work session about the OCS’s recommended budget. He described the recommended items included in the OCS’s budget as “an amalgamation of different departments,” such as existing programs of the city’s police department and Economic and Development Department. He suggested the council “dissect what these dollar figures are, where they go, and how they’re spent.”
“I just want to make it clear upfront that’s my expectation — is that we have a robust discussion about what ought to be included towards the Office of Community Safety and what perhaps, after some discussion with city council,” he said, “we’ll come to recognize shouldn’t necessarily be held against the Office of Community Safety [budget].”
Here’s what else happened at Monday’s meeting:
- Audit report: The council received a report of the city’s fiscal year 2022-23 audit. Robbie Bittner, of auditing firm PBMares, said the city received the best possible score on its audit, with no material compliance issues other than a late submission. The city submitted the audit last week.
- Road closures: The council voted unanimously to approve the permanent closing of Carthage Drive and a portion of Joseph Street. Staff said the street closings would not prevent access to properties for owners on the street and would not affect emergency services.
- Paid parking: During the public comments period, over half of the speakers — including several downtown small business owners — asked the council to end paid parking hours on weekdays at 5 p.m. instead of 7 p.m. The call for action comes after the board of the Cool Spring Downtown District voted unanimously to support the change, and the council reached consensus at a March work session to have staff research the financial impact of changing parking times.
- Strategic plan: The council adopted its 2024-25 strategic plan. Read the full strategic plan here.
- Electric bus: In the consent agenda, the council approved a budget appropriation of $466,875 for the purchase of an electric bus to replace a diesel bus in the city’s public transit fleet. The bus would be partially funded with federal grants secured by the city.
- Travel funds: In the consent agenda, the council approved a budget appropriation of $8,814 to address increased costs of the city council’s travel expenses, including $968 the council used to travel to NCLM CityVision Conference and $7,846 for travel expenses to St. Avold, France, Fayetteville’s sister city.
The next Fayetteville City Council meeting is at 6:30 p.m. Monday, May 27, at City Hall, 433 Hay St. During that meeting, the council will hold a public hearing to receive comments on the recommended budget.
Contact Evey Weisblat at eweisblat@cityviewnc.com or 216-527-3608.
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