by Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

It’s budget time for local governments and indications are that no matter where you live in Orange County, your tax bill is likely to rise.

Carrboro Town Manager Steve Stewart presents his annual budget on Tuesday. Though it is uncertain how much of an increase he’s built in, the town is faced with the same challenges as many others, including rising health care increases and the cost of staffing new facilities.

After last year’s 4.8 percent hike in the Carrboro tax rate, Stewart noted that staffing the new fire station remains one of the town’s biggest costs. But a $314,000 Federal Emergency Management Agency grant the town received in February eased that a bit by helping cover the costs of three new firefighter positions for the next four years.

Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton said the grant helps considerably.

“Even though there’s a local match, it still saves us about a penny on the tax rate,” Chilton said. As a result, Chilton said Carrboro will see a tax increase this year, but he expects it to be lower than in other towns.
On Monday, Chapel Hill Town Manager Roger Stancil revealed a budget proposal with an 11 percent tax hike. He cited health care costs, increases in debt service, a small raise for employees and the opening of the Homestead Road Aquatics Center as key reasons for the increase, the town’s first in three years.
The county budget will also contain increased spending to open new offices and facilities as well as to continue to pay for school and park bonds already approved by the voters.

County Commissioner Barry Jacobs said the county will see at least $8 million in additional costs for health care, employee costs-of-living raises, debt service and opening the new Durham Tech campus.
One penny added to the county tax rate yields about $1.25 million in additional revenue.