Charlotte residents voice concerns about tax hike. What could the money fund?

More than 60 people shared their thoughts on Charlotte’s proposed 2025 budget with City Council members Monday, calling for investments in housing, animal welfare and the arts.

City Manager Marcus Jones’ $4.2 billion proposal for fiscal year 2025, which starts July 1, calls for a 1.5-cent property tax increase. That would cost the “typical homeowner” an additional $1 a week, Jones said. Money from the higher taxes would go toward public safety, capital investments and the arts, Jones said.

Although it’s officially the city’s first property tax increase in years, it will add to higher taxes already being paid this year due to revaluation.

Jones is also asking for a total of $400 million in the form of bond referendums on the 2024 ballot to pay for a range of projects, including affordable housing and transportation. And the budget includes raises for employees of the city, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department and Charlotte Fire.

At Monday’s budget public hearing, public’s comments centered on the city’s affordable housing plan, funding for the city’s animal shelter and the arts. Others topics included requests from some city employees to raise their minimum wage to $25 an hour, a call for more funding for bicycle lanes and questions about impacts of the proposed property tax increase on homeowners.

A straw vote on the budget is scheduled for May 30, with final adoption set for June 10. The current fiscal year ends June 30.

Home ownership program

Many of Monday’s speakers lauded Jones for proposing to double the city’s Housing Trust Fund — which provides financing to developers for affordable housing — from $50 million to $100 million through the proposed $400 million in bond referendums.

And many of those who spoke in support of the $100 million said they’d like to see $25 million of it designated for home ownership programs, especially in parts of Charlotte vulnerable to displacement.

“A budget is a moral document that reflects the values and priorities of its community,” said Ben Mallicote, who was part of a group of parishioners from Covenant Presbyterian Church in Dilworth who attended the hearing in support of the housing bond. “We say in as clear a voice as we know how: Our values demand that every person have a decent place to live, and that every person experiencing homelessness be extended the same care we would want for our children, our parents and for ourselves.”

Some affordable housing advocates said they’d also like to see the city fund a $1.8 million investment in legal aid for people facing eviction.

“You can provide essential legal support to those who are at risk of losing their homes … By keeping residents housed we can reduce the population relying on shelter services, saving our local government money in the long run,” housing advocate Apryl Lewis said.

Push for a new shelter

Volunteers with Charlotte’s animal shelter, who have spoken out at council meetings for months, continued their push Monday for a bigger city investment in animal welfare.

Advocates said they were pleased to see funding in the budget proposal for 10 new positions within Animal Care and Control.

They also want to see the department made independent from CMPD and get funding for a new, bigger shelter. Volunteers say the city has outgrown its current facility, leading to animals having to be euthanized due to overcrowding. The shelter, which is undergoing renovations, has put out calls for people to adopt or foster animals due to capacity issues.

Cassandra Lillie, a veterinarian and volunteer, described how grueling it can be to watch dogs taken from kennels and excited for human interaction, only to have to take them to be put down.

“This once happy, healthy companion animal is now dead and must be cremated. All of this because there is no room at the shelter,” she said.

Arts funding plan

Leaders from some of Charlotte’s major art institutions thanked the city Monday for setting aside millions for the arts.

Uncertainty around funding has plagued the local arts community since 2019, when voters rejected a referendum for a quarter-cent sales tax increase that would have pumped $22.5 million into the local arts sector. Then, the COVID pandemic hit arts organizations hard by shuttering venues.

In early 2021, the City Council diverted much of its longstanding funding for the Arts and Science Council, a pass-through organization, to a newly formed Arts and Culture Advisory Board. The city also established “the Infusion Fund,” a public-private partnership in conjunction with the Foundation for the Carolinas to distribute arts money. But that fund expires at the end of the current fiscal year.

In his proposed budget, Jones called for $11 million to go toward arts funding in fiscal year 2025, with $9 million of that designated for longstanding institutions such as the Mint Museum.

Artists and museum leaders said funding like that will help generate creativity in the community and help grow the local economy.

“I am a product of the power that is funding the arts,” said Makayla Binter, a local artist whose had her work shown at the Mint. “... We are the food, the art, the live music, the bars, the breweries, the photo ops and the theater. Everyone is creative because Charlotte is creative. And everyone benefits from the funding of arts and culture in Charlotte.”

But not all were on board with the plan as it currently stands.

Terri White, president and CEO of the Charlotte Museum of History, said an even bigger investment is needed in arts and culture. And she wants her facility to be among those getting funding.

“Every metric the museum can directly control has improved substantially … ,” she said. “However, we make these improvements at the bottom of a hole that decades of neglect and divestment have left us in.”