Mebane council weighs property tax increase, higher utility rates in budget debate

Mebane homeowners would pay about $20 more a year for every $100,000 of assessed property value if the city keeps City Manager Richard White’s proposed 2-cent tax increase, and council members spent a special Wednesday meeting deciding whether that extra money should stay in the budget, be cut back, or be redirected.

White’s proposal would raise the city rate from 37 cents to 39 cents per $100 of valuation. He gave council three choices: no increase, a 1-cent increase, or a split plan that would keep the full 2-cent increase but send one penny to the general fund and one penny into capital reserves. With each penny on the tax rate worth about $554,000 to the city, the difference between the options was not minor bookkeeping. It was a choice about whether Mebane pays more now or waits to confront larger infrastructure costs later.

The property-tax debate sat beside another cost residents would feel in their monthly bills. White said his budget also includes a 10.5 percent increase in water and sewer rates, making the utility side of the budget nearly as important as the tax-rate vote.

Staffing needs drove much of the discussion. White said the city would need nine new employees in the next budget cycle for the fourth fire station. The current budget already includes three new fire department positions tied to a new tiller truck, plus six other jobs across city government. Those positions include a human resources analyst, an IT specialist, a building code inspector, an equipment operator and two maintenance technicians.

White said the human resources analyst would likely be the first cut if council members pushed for deeper reductions and rejected any tax increase. That comment underscored how tightly the city has tied staffing, public safety and growth to the tax rate now under review.

The split over whether to dedicate a penny to capital reserves exposed the larger question in front of council: whether Mebane should spend money on day-to-day needs and expansion now, or protect savings for roads, facilities and growth pressures that are still building. With fire staffing, utility rates and reserve policy all in play at once, the budget debate has become one of the most consequential decisions facing the city this spring.