CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners laid out its top priorities in January 2024 for next year, and on Thursday, County Manager Dena Diorio presented her budget proposal. The question on everyone's minds is: Will Mecklenburg County's 2025 budget proposal include a tax increase? The answer, in short, is yes.
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All Mecklenburg County home and business owners could see their property taxes rise if the county chooses to adopt Diorio's proposed budget. It's important to note the increase would only be half-a-cent per $100 valuation of a property to cover what the county manager is calling for to fix the revenue shortfall. For those who need a better breakdown, if your property costs $250,000, the increase would cost you an average $37.50 a year or $3.13 a month. The average value of a home in Mecklenburg County is $383,000, so this increase would cost those homeowners around $57.50 a year.
"I own my own home. It really is going to impact me a lot," Charlotte neighbor Tomacka Jenkins said. “Everything is going up right now so it’s coming to the point of buying food – like I am now – or paying the extra money on my mortgage," she continued.
"If prices go up you have to budget more for groceries and that means less money for other stuff," another resident shared.
Currently, the county is losing over $20 million a year because the sheriff's office isn't housing federal inmates, real estate is slowing and there are administrative reimbursements needed for Medicaid. The top five areas of investment would be focused on affordable housing, behavioral health, healthy food programs, services for senior adults and workforce development.
"With this as a backdrop, and with a desire not to reduce service levels while simultaneously maximizing the financial impact on taxpayers, I believe this budget strikes the appropriate balance," Diorio said.
The proposed budget will cost $2.5 billion, which is up 5.5% from 2024. It also funds Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools' request for its new operating funding and capital maintenance. There will be a public hearing on the budget on May 23 at 6 p.m. at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center's meeting chamber. Speakers can sign up at the meeting, or register or comment in advance online. The deadline to submit a comment is May 22 at 5 p.m.
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