Tax rate is $0.495, monthly waste fee of $21 begins in 2021
During a hour-long meeting Tuesday night the Wake Forest commissioners all approved Town Manager Kip Padgett’s proposed budget of $86,645,395 for the 2020-2021 fiscal year.
The new property tax rate after Wake County’s revaluation will be 49.5 cents per $100 which includes about 2 cents for the inclusion of the fire department within town government; a cent and a half ($0.015) to meet the town’s transportation needs; and half a cent ($0.005) for an affordable housing plan using community initiatives.
The general fund budget for most town activities is $56,053,825. The overall budget shown above includes all the various funds. You can find a full description of the budget in the May 6, 2020 issue of the Gazette. Either scroll through to find it or enter “budget” in the question box.
Commissioner Chad Sary said the staff had worked very hard on the budget at a time of economic and health upheavals and so had the commissioners. Mayor Vivian Jones said it was not a conflict of interest for Commissioner Liz Simpers, now a staff member at the Wake Forest Chamber of Commerce, to vote on the budget. The town is a chamber member at the community investor level, $12,500.
Commissioner Bridget Wall-Lennon again raised the question of a way to help people who will find it hard to afford the additional waste fee once it is effective in January. “We got a lot of feedback about the $21 fee,” she said, and asked if the staff had any feedback about a way of rounding up the payments by others to provide money to help those in need. The funds would go to ChurchNet, and people could apply there for help.
Chief Finance Officer Aileen Staples said Raleigh Water (formerly Raleigh Public Utilities) “is looking into roundup for just us. We are still in conversations.”
The meeting began with a proclamation recognizing the centennial of the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution which enfranchised women. Read by the mayor, it was received by League of Women Voters of Wake County President Dianna Wynn. The amendment was ratified by the states in the summer of 1920, and the League of Women Voters of Wake County, which grew from the National Women’s Suffrage Association, first met on Sept. 27, 1920.
Wynn noted in her remarks that the suffrage was not universal, excluding both black women and men, until the civil rights acts of the 1960s and even today people are being denied the right to vote. The rights of the citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
The board approved unanimously a resolution authorizing the Rogers Branch Road extension at a cost of $757,597.04. The road, which now deadends, will be extended by Sassom LLC as part of its work in building the Wheat Field shopping center on Forestville Road. The road will extend to Forestville Road at the current traffic signal, and $30,000 will go toward improving that signal. It will provide a direct connection to Heritage High School and help reduce the congestion on Forestville Road. The reimbursement will be spread over three years.
Wall asked about minority ownership participation by subcontractors, and the Sassom president said he was a minority person as well as his partner and feels disgusted he has to go out and get other minority-owned businesses. He said he hires based on the applicants skills and other attributes.
There have been several retirements in the Wake Forest Police Department. Chief Jeff Leonard announced these seven promotions and said more will follow:
*Lt. J. Jefferson promoted to captain
*Sgt. L. Godfrey promoted to lieutenant
*Sgt. P. Misko promoted to lieutenant
*Officer B. Newsom promoted to corporal
*Officer M. Riddle promoted to corporal
*Det. C. Perry promoted to corporal.
After the regular meeting the board went into a private session to evaluate the town manager and attorney. When they returned Mayor Jones announced they had agreed to raise Padgett’s salary by 7 percent to $187,727 with a car allowance of $3,500.
“I am pleased to support this increase which is very much justified due to Kip’s excellent work this year during the Covid-19 pandemic. His job will be much more difficult this year with the addition of the fire department to the town. We are very pleased to have someone of his ability and quality as our town manager. We continue to be pleased with the excellent service we get from Eric [Vernon] and his colleagues at Wyrick Robbins.”
Commissioner Adam Wright participated in the meeting by telephone because he is under 14-day quarantine because of the coronavirus pandemic. Those who watched on Channel 10 could see several updates and improvements in the second-floor room where the town and planning boards hold meetings.
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11 Responses
Your familiarity with the information is not up to date. Wake County updates tax valuations every 4 years. It was last done in 2015 and went into effect in 2016. Therefore, the Town of Wake Forest did NOT raise your taxes.
Conversely, Wake County had raised taxes every year since 2014 until this year.
They lowered the tax rate by 12 cents per $100 (less than 20%) of value after the average home increased in value from $232,000 in 2015 to $282,000 in 2019 (over 20%)
2019: 6.63 cents per $100 of value (10.13% increase from previous year)
2018: 3.94 cents per $100 of value
2017: 1.45 cents per $100 of value
2016: 1.35 cents per $100 of value (after previous re-evaluation)
2015: 3.65 cents per $100 of value
That’s over 15 cents per hundred dollars of value total and that figure doesn’t include either of the re-evaluations.
When the town of Wake Forest updated to the new values in 2016, the tax rate was lowered so that the net to citizens didn’t rise. The town published the revenue neutral number and it was voted on in June of 2016.
That is simply the fact rather than your grasping for approximate numbers.
The $21 per month waste fee is a $252 per year tax increase for every residence. You may not call it a tax, but it is a tax. It is money I am forced to pay WF for no added services. Once I have paid it for a year, I am $252 poorer.
The appraisal on my house increased from $215,000 in 2019 to $285,000 in 2020, for a 32.5% appraisal increase. The WF tax rate decreased 2.5 cents/hundred, from 52.5 to 49.0, for a 6.7% decrease. Those numbers indicate my taxes (without the waste fee) increased fro $1129 to $1397 for a $268, or a 24.7% increase. Add the $252 per year waste fee and my total WF taxes have increased by $520 per year, for a 46% tax increase over what I paid in 2019. I dare say that the numbers for my house are similar to the percentage increase for most for of the existing existing WF houses.
If you wish to carry on this discussion in a public forum, that is OK with me. If you prefer, you can give me a call and we can discuss in a more discrete way.
I’m glad Commissioner Wall-Lennon asked about minority-owned businesses and hires. I do not appreciate Sassom LLC’s response, as it displays a true lack of understanding of the systemic issues that minority-owned businesses, employees, and job-seekers deal with on a daily basis.
This budget is way out of line. Even though the tax rate came down 4%, the average assessment for a residence went up somewhere around 25%. That nets out to a 20% real estate tax increase for the typical Wake Forest resident. In times like this, with many small business struggling and some even going out of business, with many employees unemployed, working fewer hours, or taking pay cuts, the town needed to look at the big picture and make some painful budget cuts, just like Wake County did. I am sure that every added expense is justifiable by itself, but during times like this, there has to be some painful cuts. I spoke to some of the commissioners a couple of weeks ago, but none appear to have listened. I will never vote for any of the current commissioners in the future, as I expect more fiscal responsibility than they have showed. I regret to say I wish I moved to Wake County instead of Wake Forest. WF residents pay double taxes with little to show for it. Look for an upcoming tax revolt by citizens on Wake Forest.
Another comment to add to my message above. The $21 waste pickup fee is nothing but another tax increase structured so that the town does’t have call it a tax. In other words, every resident will pay an additional $252 per year on top of the approximately 20% real estate tax increase. In my case, my taxes (including the waste fee) just went up around $600 per year. Wake County taxes pay for schools and administrative items that Wake Forest taxpayers utilize. Wake Forest taxes pays for faulty planning. I’m sorry to be so blunt, but that is the way I see it.
I don’t mind the fee. However, I’d rather we as consumers had an opportunity to contract directly with a waste management service of our own choice.
I moved her from a suburb outside of Denver where waste and recycling was privatized. It was cheaper and the service far superior because of the competition. We spent $110 a year for trash and recycling. For that fee the service literally took whatever I threw out there, in a bin or not. Often, when I forgot to pull my can out they came and got it for me. I never got a nasty note scolding me to space my cans juuuuuuust right or telling me my cans were too full and never a peep if heaven forbid I put my cans too close to the mailbox.
So, yeah, I don’t mind the fee, but I do mind the poor level of service now that the cost will be passed directly to the homeowner. Do away with the town contract with whatever company is doing it now and open it up to waste management businesses to earn our money.
Good suggestion, Jerry. Let’s see what the town commissioners do with this.
Revolt against Wake County, they set the property tax rates/
Not at all. The County appraises real estate to fair market value by state law. The County dropped their tax rate by a significant amount, about 18% I think. The Town of WF only dropped the rate by about 4%. Considering the 25% increase in appraisals for many residences, the Town’s budget is far too rich. The County taxes will increase a little, the Town’s taxes will increase a lot. I contend the Town did a poor job for its citizens, many of whom are or will soon have financial difficulty. For me, I expect my WF taxes (including trash fee) will cost me about $600 per year over 2019 and my County taxes will increase about $150 per year. Unacceptable, commissioners.
I understand your frustration. At the same time, the tax rate has not changed since 2015 in Wake Forest where Wake County has gone up over 10% in that same time frame. That is the only reason Wake County was able to drop their rate and get it back in line with where it should be.
You can also be sure that the Wake County tax rate will go up next year because of the money lost from the pandemic issues.
I predict you will hear it from WF citizens once they get their tax bills and study them to see why their taxes have gone up so much. Your just saying the tax rate has remained the same since 2015 does not cut it. Appraisals go up. Add to the taxes the new waste pick up fee, and the WF residents are getting abused. Now construction comes on line, and they pay taxes. Do not compare WF with Wake County. They made major cuts to their budget. Wake Forest punted and put the burden on hard working taxpayers, many of whom are seeing their incomes decline. Citizens have to adjust spending when income drops. The Town of Wake Forest needs to do the same, but has failed. Any commissioner that does fight for the taxpayers will not get my support in future elections. I can assure you that many others feel the same way.