City budget process begin; no plans for tax increase
Wilson City Council began its 2025-26 budget discussions Thursday night with a draft spending plan with no planned increases in property taxes or most city fees.
City Manager Rodger Lentz presented the proposed budget at Thursday's monthly meeting. He gave a brief overview of the budget highlights, saying the budget was less than one percent more than last year's budget and thanking the Finance staff for their hard work. The entire draft budget is available on the city's website (see link below).
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The proposed budget does not raise the city's property tax rate (52.5 cents per $100 valuation), which compares favorable to other cities in Eastern North Carolina, Lentz said.
Other highlights of the draft budget:
- The 2025-26 budget totals $274 million, less than 1 percent more than the current year budget. Lentz said the budget is balanced with the expectation that sales tax will not grow and that the economy could be uncertain for the next year.
- The budget holds steady on gas, water, sewer and stormwater rates.
- The garbage/recycling fee will increase by $1 a month to help cover rising costs.
- Permitting/inspection fees would increase by 3 percent, which is intended to help cover the costs of those services, he said.
- The budget does not include any new positions.
- The budget does allow for city employees to receive, on average, a 3 percent raise based on merit. Those would follow employee reviews later this year.
- The budget provides equipment for several departments and supports several major ongoing projects, including utility improvements for industries and around town, parks improvements and the stadium.
Council members did not comment on the presentation; their tradition has been to reserve questions and remarks for the work session, which will be in June (details below.)
County tax rate should remain steady
Every person who owns a vehicle or property in the city pays Wilson County taxes as well as city taxes. So it's good news that the Wilson County Board of Commissioners is also looking at a proposed budget with no increases in property tax. County Manager Ron Hunt's proposed 2025-26 budget is only 1.4% over last year's budget.
The county is currently planning to keep its tax rate at 59.5 cents per $100 valuation. The city's current rate is 52.5 cents per $100. If those rates hold, the owner of a $210,000 home -- the median price here according to Zillow -- would pay $1,102.50 in city taxes and $1,249.50 in county taxes, the same as last year.
The county board will hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 29, and is likely to adopt a final budget on Monday, June 2. More information on the county process can be found here.
Where we go from here
Wilson City Council will hold a budget work session on Thursday, June 5, at its morning meeting. A public hearing will be held at the Thursday, June 19, meeting, beginning at 7 p.m. at Wilson City Hall, 112 Goldsboro St. E.
State law requires City Council to adopt an annual budget before July 1. Any fee changes typically would go into effect July 1.
Property tax notices will be sent in September and due by January 2026, although many people's payments are handled as part of their mortgages.
Wilson County residents pay property taxes on vehicles as part of their annual registrations.
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