Tax rate remains at 52 cents

Wake Forest is “maximizing its resources,” Chief Financial Officer Aileen Staples said Wednesday morning during a telephone discussion about the 2018-2019 budget Town Manager Kip Padgett unveiled Tuesday night.

She was referring to the several major projects and staff increases in the $44,505,780 general fund budget that includes $26,771,960 from the property tax which remains at 52 cents per $100 assessed valuation. The 52 cents is broken out into 11 cents for the independent Wake Forest Fire Department (proposed at $5.7 million) and 42 cents for town operations aside from the separate Wake Forest Power.

The last time the town commissioners raised the tax rate was in 2014 when then-Town Manager Mark Williams proposed a 1-cent increase for the fire department’s share toward the operating expenses for the new Jenkins Road fire station. In 2008 the commissioners added 4 cents in lieu of garbage and recycling fees and two pennies for the fire department’s share, making the rate 51 cents.

In 2016, after the county-wide property revaluation, Padgett chose not to adjust the tax rate on the new and higher valuation to make it revenue neutral, which would have been 53.1 cents. Instead, he kept the rate at 52 cents, thereby forfeiting town revenue for taxpayers’ comfort. It has meant a “loss” of additional revenues totaling $507,011 in 2016-2017, $536,656 in the current budget year and higher losses in future years.

The town has managed this “maximizing” because the tax base has increased substantially each year – adding $354,079,605 between the proposed budget of $5.3 billion for 2018-2019 and last year. Other contributing funds in the general budget – sales tax, beer and wine tax, permits and fees – have also increased as has the pressure for more services.

What will your property taxes buy this coming fiscal year? First the police department will get 14 new positions with all the necessary vehicles and equipment. Included in the 14 is a second traffic unit – a sergeant and four officers for $515,000 in salaries and benefits – and four corporals to administer four town zones and a new administrative captain. One new corporal will specialize in recruiting, one new hire will coordinate special events and off duty and there will be a new administrative support specialist.

The first traffic unit was funded in 2016, and Padgett said they see positive results in a reduction of accidents. In 2016-2017 there were 1,411 accidents and there are only 1,089 thus far in the current year.

In his budget message Padgett said the town has begun alternating emphasizing public safety and general services hiring. This year’s focus on public safety will “ensure continued and appropriate response times to citizen calls and to implement succession planning for the retirement of several officers at the rank of lieutenant and above.” He said Wednesday that planning will take five years.

There are some changes. Padgett proposes to raise the annual vehicle fee from $15 to $25, but most people will not notice it because it is charged on a bill from Wake County for county property taxes, Wake Forest property taxes and the vehicle fee. The money from the fees will be used to offset the debt for street rehabilitation and future transportation improvements.

The town pays for health insurance and life insurance for all current and retired employees, and the cost of the last category has risen to an obligation of over $14 million. The town will set up a trust fund with the North Carolina State Treasurer’s office to begin setting funds aside to meet those future obligations.

Padgett is also recommending that all new hires after July 1, 2018 will not receive free medical coverage and life insurance after retiring from town service. During Tuesday’s work session, this recommendation met with some pushback from Commissioner Bridget Wall-Lennon, who said those after-retirement benefits are “one of the very few benefits for working for a public entity.” But Mayor Vivian Jones said, “We cannot continue to afford it.”

Padgett called it “a very tough recommendation to make.” Staples said in an email, “Financially, it is in the best interest of the town for the long haul to make this policy change.

“During the last two audit presentations, [the auditors] have been making the staff aware that the trend across the state is to do exactly what we’re thinking of doing,” Staples said. “It’s strictly a business decision. We have a very robust benefits package that was adopted a year ago.” She added that the $14-million liability is going to continue to grow as current employees retire.

Wall-Lennon said her concern was that people at retirement age are going to find it difficult to purchase health insurance and life insurance.

Commissioner Brian Pate noted that someone can get hired by the town at age 25, work 20 years and retire at 45 “and then we have another 45 years of liability.”

Padgett wrote in his budget message that establishing a live-WORK-play technology center “is a journey,” but it appears some progress is being made. Economic Developer Jason Cannon, Padgett and the Wake Forest Business and Industry Partnership are focusing on one property and are working with the owner on a land use plan. That plan will provide “a visual and much clearer understanding of what is possible on the property . . . This will assist in confirming that everyone shares the same vision and will help in the marketability of the property.”

In a smaller but important economic venture, Padgett wants to focus on the technology entrepreneurs, “especially the ‘spare-room’ entrepreneurs.” He proposes developing an incubator space “to funnel start-ups and entrepreneurs to Wake Forest to expand their businesses. We are currently negotiating with property owners to enter into a public-private partnership for an incubator.” Funding for this project is included in proposed budget.

The town is purchasing the former SunTrust bank building on Elm Avenue between South White and Brooks streets for $1.5 million and will borrow $1 million for the purchase.

Padgett touched on the renovations underway at the Renaissance Centre and other long-planned projects including the streetscape improvements on South White from Elm Avenue to East Holding Avenue, the repairs at Richland Creek, Stadium Drive Complete Streets, Holding Park Aquatic Center, Northern Wake Senior Center additions and renovation, the community center at E. Carroll Joyner Park, the street maintenance project with road connections, and the resurfacing at Smith Creek Soccer Center where, Padgett said, they will not be able to build a permanent bathroom building until the Federal Emergency Management Administration completes its floodplain map revision. “We cannot build a permanent building in a flood plain.”

The town will be taking on new debt — $16 million in the coming year for all the approved projects underway from the 2014 bond referendum and others – but Staples and Padgett have prepared a debt management plan which will keep the town’s debt and debt service well under the state maximum. The debt service for the proposed budget is $6.7 million or 15.4 percent of general fund expenditures. Debt has its own fund with a dedicated portion of the tax rate ($0.085) allocated toward repaying debt.

The funding of outside agencies, once a hot-button topic for commissioners, may go unremarked this year, the first year the town will be responsible for the stadium show and fireworks display on July 3. Padgett does propose $2,500 for the Fourth of July Committee who will coordinate the children’s parade and activities in Holding Park on July 4. Other organizations receiving funds are Resources for Seniors which provides the programming for the town-owned Northern Wake Senior Center, $4,000; Wake Forest College Birthplace which maintains the Calvin Jones House and the Wake Forest Historical Museum, $4,000; Wake Forest Boys & Girls Club, $7,500; and Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce which continues to coordinate with the town for economic development, $11,000.

Finally, one of the results of funding for all departments was evident Tuesday night when there were two tall microphones at the speaker’s podium in front of the town board bench, microphones high enough for the tallest of men who for years have had to bend over or crouch to speak into the microphones connected to the television programming for the board meetings.

A public hearing about the proposed budget will be held during the town board’s regular business meeting Tuesday, May 15, beginning at 7 p.m. The board is expected to examine the budget during its work session on June 5 and approve it with or without changes on June 19. State law requires municipalities have an adopted balanced budget by the start of the next fiscal year on July 1.