WakeUP Wake County’s Board Chair, Julia Lee, will make the following statement at Wake’s Board of Commissioner’s public hearing on the County Manager’s proposed Wake County Budget for FY19:
WakeUP Wake County Statement re: Wake County Manager’s Budget for FY19
Remarks by Julia Lee, Chair of WakeUP Board of Directors
May 21, 2018
WakeUP Wake County commends County Manager David Ellis for creating a budget reflecting fundamental needs of all Wake County residents. This budget looks to the future and, even with a proposed tax increase, provides a good bargain in comparison to neighboring counties.
We welcome the county’s efforts to address the growing shortage of affordable housing, expected to increase well beyond the current shortage of 56,000 units. Growth is driving up home prices, land values, and rents, while rapid development is removing moderately priced rental units from the market at an alarming rate.
Therefore, WakeUP wholeheartedly supports the proposed $15 million increase dedicated to preserving and creating additional affordable housing.
New funds are not only essential to implement the County’s excellent Affordable Housing Plan but will leverage additional funds from municipalities and the private sector. WakeUP recommends these funds be used to purchase and develop county property for affordable housing (especially along transit corridors), for creating acquisition and preservation funds, for expanding the existing rental program, for a new program providing wrap-around services to those at greatest risk, and for hiring a housing director and other needed staff.
Given competing challenges of continued significant growth in student population along with sizable unfunded mandates from the state legislature, WakeUP also appreciates the County Manager understanding we must increase funding for Wake County Public Schools. Wake schools are projected to add 24,600 students in less than a decade. Since the state legislature has failed in its responsibility to adequately fund school operations, the cost burden falls on the residents of our county.
While WakeUP appreciates past increases and the proposed increase in this budget, $30 million is not adequate this year. WakeUP has examined the school board recommendation for a $58.9 million increase over last year and found little extraneous expense. Significant increased expenditures address growth (such as operating costs for new schools), carry out legislated requirements (including K-3 class size reduction and employee benefits), keep special education staff (which is federally required) and middle school assistant principals, and pay for increases in leasing property and utilities. These expenditures must be paid and are outside of the control of the Board of Education.
At your urging, the school budget effectively has no fund balance. In addition, it is irresponsible to not provide funding for additional psychologists and counselors in schools.
Therefore, we strongly urge the Board of Commissioners to provide an increase of $47 million – as the absolute minimum – for Wake County Public Schools.
We appreciate the County’s other funding needs and understand this means an even higher property tax increase. Even with an additional tax increase needed to cover basic needs, Wake’s property tax rate would still be significantly less than peer urban counties of Mecklenburg, Durham, Forsyth, Guilford, and Orange. And while the manager’s proposed budget creates our highest-ever per pupil spending, it too is still below peer counties in the state.
In addition, please continue efforts to set a long-term funding formula for schools to keep up with growth and inflation and ensure adequate funding is established for years to come. We also endorse the added Smart Start funding for pre-K, vital to ensuring academic success.
Lastly, we acknowledge this budget addresses many other priorities for good quality of life in a fast-growing county, including paying attention to our limited drinking water supplies. Thank you for including the One Water study in the budget.
Thank you.