Supporters of Cape Fear Regional Theatre were out in full force at Monday’s Fayetteville City Council meeting asking for $2.5 million over the next five years instead of the staff-recommended $250,000 in the fiscal 2024 city budget.
Dressed in black with green “pro arts” stickers, patrons, volunteers, board members and CFRT staff members stood before City Council to drive home the worthiness of the organization and what it has done for the community.
The council, during its regular meeting at City Hall, held a public hearing on the proposed city budget. City Manager Douglas Hewett last week presented his proposed budget, which calls for a 7-cent property tax increase, bringing the city’s tax rate to 56.95 cents per $100 property valuation.
Cape Fear Regional Theatre requested $2.5 million, or $500,000 for five years. However, the budget recommends $250,000 for fiscal year 2024 and more in future years as directed by the City Council, according to Hewett.
Assistant City Manager Jeff Yates told the council that the city is about two-thirds of the way through the budget process, which started on April 18 with a budget work session. He proposed one more work session on Wednesday. He told council members that they could adopt the budget anytime after Monday night’s public hearing.
Yates noted the budget is available online for public review. There also are paper versions available at the City Clerk’s Office at City Hall and public libraries.
Council member D.J. Haire assured the audience he would not vote to adopt the budget Monday evening and doubted that any other council members were prepared to do so.
“I still have some issues with the budget,” Haire said.
Council member Shakeyla Ingram briefly spoke in favor of increasing the allocation for the theater, noting that Cape Fear Regional recently helped the city acquire another All America City award.
CFRT board President Zach Pritchett told the council that the theater “impacts audiences in all council districts.”
Bond packages, tax agreement
The city’s need to increase taxes and cut back on outside agency funding requests is due in part to the bond packages that were approved by city voters in November and because Cumberland County has changed how it disperses sales tax revenue among municipalities.
Under the previous agreement with the county, Fayetteville received about 36% of the sales tax revenue while the county itself got about 58%. With the new agreement, the county now gets 72% while the city’s portion drops to 25%, a decline of more than 11%, by far the largest reduction among municipalities in Cumberland County.
Because of the loss of revenue, Hewett estimates in his budget proposal that the city will lose $7.8 million in revenue in the next fiscal year. And that loss is expected to grow. The city projects that with the new agreement with the county, it will lose more than $14 million in fiscal year 2030.
Yates told council members that the general fund will require a 2.75-cent tax rate increase for operations to offset the loss of sales tax revenue and a 4.25-cent increase for the bond debt.
Also proposed is an increase of $40 annually — or $3.33 per month — for residential solid waste collection. The total of expenditures to operate the city is $311,865,633, which is an increase of 10.23% over last year’s nearly $283 million.
The budget also includes a 4% pay raise for employees; a 1% increase in 401K contributions; $500,000 for market adjustments in compensation; and money to fund both police and fire department employee step pay increases.
Other items include $250,000 for a mental health coordinator and $300,000 for operating a day resource center for the homeless.
Proposed infrastructure costs include $2 million for an enhancement project at Martin Luther King Jr. Park; $3.3 million for the second tranche of the proposed N.C. Civil War, Emancipation and Reconstruction History Center; and $450,000 for the Black Voices Museum.
The council also voted unanimously to reauthorize the downtown municipal service district. The district was created in 1978 and a tax of 10 cents per $100 valuation levied on downtown business and property owners.
The tax produces about $120,000 in revenue annually which, with an additional $100,000 from the city’s general fund, is used to promote the downtown district. The city contracts with Cool Spring Downtown District to provide promotional programs and events.
The council voted to contract with Cool Spring Downtown District for the next five years at $220,000 annually with an annual 3% increase. The 3% figure, according to city staff, reflects the growth in the downtown tax district revenue.
