Wake County manager presents budget

Wake County Manager David Ellis presented his 2020-2021 budget to the Wake County Board of Commissioners Monday, a $1.46 billion proposal that keeps the county property tax at the same level, providing the same revenue, as last year. That revenue neutral tax should be set at $0.60, Ellis said. The current property tax rate is $0.7207 per $100 valuation.

The county revalued all real property last year and the new county tax base is $188,640,000,000, which includes real estate property ($164,975,000,000) as well as personal property, public service and vehicles.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic the county faces a revenue gap of nearly $29 million for the next fiscal year. To deal with it Ellis proposes to eliminate 100 positions, delay capital investments and cut back on contract services and professional development for employees.

He also proposes opening all Wake County libraries an hour later and closing them an hour earlier, eliminating 32 positions and impacting programming for children and adults, along with cuts in the county ambulance service, reducing staffing at the Wake County Animal Center and eliminating performance pay increases for county employees.

But Ellis proposes to keep current funding for the child welfare and public health teams as well as food and nutrition services because of the number of people seeking help. He will add social workers to Wake Prevent!, the county’s homelessness prevention program and add staff at the South Wilmington Street Shelter to provide emergency shelter and one-on-one assistance.

Also kept at the same level is the $515.96 million the county provided to the Wake County Public School System for operating expenses. He will also provide $25 million for Wake Tech and about $1.7 million for Wake County Smart Start. Also included is $7.9 million for the Wake County Board of Elections and implementation of a new 911 platform.

Wake is the largest North Carolina county based on population, which has reached 1,111,761.

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Here are some facts and figures about the 2020-2021 budget Wake Forest Town Manager Kip Padgett released earlier this month.

The estimated tax base is $6,648,652,175 in Wake County and $127,788,435 in Franklin County. Padgett proposed a tax rate of $0.495. The revenue neutral tax rate is $0.4613.

Padgett said the difference — $0.0337 – will address three initiatives. The first is the addition of the Wake Forest Fire Department to the town, which was forecast as requiring an addition two to three cents on the tax rate. Last year’s revaluation of all county property means the true impact is a little less.

The proposed rate includes $0.015 for transportation needs at a time when the state Department of Transportation is cutting back and trimming personnel, even now requiring that employees from the Secretary of Transportation downward take compulsory unpaid time off between now and June 1. That cent and a half will yield $996,000 each year, and the money will be designated for safety improvements. The mayor has been pushing for the town to improve intersections for the safety of both motorists and pedestrians.

The proposed rate also includes half a cent ($0.005) which will yield $332,000 each year for affordable and workforce housing, including a staff person. The town will not be in the home-building business but instead will work with Wake County’s affordable housing initiative and will develop a housing plan.

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