Waynesville leaders divided as they close in on property tax increase
Paul Nielsen, The Mountaineer, Waynesville, N.C.
5 min read
May 18—Waynesville leaders appear to have settled on an almost four-cent increase in the property tax rate to fund town services, equipment, new positions and raises that department heads say are critical.
The Waynesville town council convened this week for the fourth round of budget negotiations. The process of crafting a budget and settling on a property tax rate was more drawn out than normal, as they kept going back to the drawing board and returning to the table with various scenarios.
Ultimately, the council could not reach a unanimous agreement. However, three of the five council members have enough votes to forge ahead with a 3.8-cent tax increase per $100 valuation. The increase would raise around an additional $625,000 in revenue in the town's around $18.7 million budget.
At the latest budget workshop, town council was presented with various budget proposals that would raise the property tax anywhere from 2 cents to 5.1 cents.
Mayor Gary Caldwell drew an early line in the sand when he stated at the start of the meeting that he was not willing to raise property taxes any higher than 3.8 cents.
Council member Chuck Dickson again stuck firm to his stance of not raising property taxes at all. Council member Julia Freeman said she couldn't support more than a 2.5 cent increase.
"That is my final offer," Freeman said.
Meanwhile, council members Jon Feichter and Anthony Sutton wanted a higher increase than Caldwell — with the difference going toward police and fire. But they agreed to move from their positions and joined Caldwell in the proposed 3.8 cent increase.
"I think we are comfortable here," Sutton said.
What it will fund
The proposed budget includes a 2.5% cost-of-living raise for town employees and another 2.5% merit raise for employees advancing in their career track. That was already baked into the baseline budget, however, and not part of the debate over a tax increase.
The additional revenue brought in by the tax hike will fund two additional firefighters at a cost of around $130,000 annually, which includes salaries, benefits and payroll expenses.
It will also increase the starting salary for police officers from $42,000 to $47,000 annually in an attempt to keep officers from jumping to higher-paying agencies. Bumping up the starting salary for officers creates a ripple effect, however.
"Salaries for the police department are going to be adjusted up the ladder based on the starting salary of $47,000," said Assistant Town Manager Jesse Fowler.
Police officers will not get the 2.5% cost-of-living raise, however.
Town council debated whether to raise the starting officer salaries to $49,000 to be on par with the starting salary for deputies with the Haywood County Sheriff's Office. But it was deemed too expensive.
The budget also includes capital expenditures of:
—$22,000 for police ballistic vests
—a $100,000 leaf shredder-collector
—around $40,000 for new cardio at the Recreation Center among other items.
Who stood where
Police salaries and new fire fighters were the biggest ticket items driving the tax increase.
Council members Jon Feichter and Anthony Sutton both voiced support for hiring four additional firefighters instead of two and making the starting salary for police officers $49,000.
"We live in an ever-increasing dangerous world," Sutton said. "I think we owe it to our firefighters and our police officers to take care of them and also take care our of citizens. If that means raising the tax rate then that is an endeavor worth taking."
Feichter said that having adequate public safety personnel is critical and that not addressing the issue now will only make the problem worse next fiscal year.
"I am comfortable in what we need to do: hire (four) more firefighters and increase the starting (police) salary to $49,000," Feichter said. "That is my goal."
However, Caldwell proposed adding only two positions in the fire department and a starting salary for the police department of $47,000.
Caldwell met with Town Manager Rob Hites behind closed doors before the start of the budget work session, actually delaying its start by several minutes.
Caldwell then opened the meeting by telling town council and the town's department heads that comparing the town's budget to the county's budget is not a fair comparison. He said a larger tax increase would be another burden on top of the rising cost of groceries and gas citizens are currently experiencing.
"The county has 60,000 to 70,000 residents and they bank off of four towns besides the rural areas," Caldwell said. "The city here, we bank off of around a little over 10,000 people. You guys need to get that. We are trying to work this out. We are trying to be fair."
Chief Joey Webb told town leaders that getting an additional four firefighters by the end of the next fiscal year would enable the department to add an additional person to each of the four shifts.
"Four would be better," Webb said.
Sutton noted that the tax rate is lower now than it was six years ago: 43.92 cents compared to 49.57 cents. No official vote on the proposed 3.8-cent tax increase was taken.
Town council is expected to discuss the latest budget proposal at its May 28 meeting. The town will hold an official public hearing on the budget and tax rate in June prior to a final vote. The town must adopt its 2024-25 fiscal year budget that begins July 1 by June 30.
The proposed budget also includes a 7% increase in electric rates.
