Does draft Raleigh budget raise police salaries enough to keep officers on the job?

Anna Johnson
·4 min read

Some Raleigh police officers, firefighters and 911 call takers would get a 10% pay raise under the city manager’s proposed budget.

That falls short of the 15% raises that some advocates, including the Raleigh Police Protective Association, say is needed to keep public safety employees in Raleigh instead of seeking higher-paying jobs in surrounding towns.

City Manager Marchell Adams-David presented her nearly $1.5 billion proposed budget to the Raleigh City Council Tuesday afternoon.

Budget quick glance:

The proposed $1.43 billion budget is 11.8% higher than this year’s adopted budget.

Raleigh’s property tax rate is currently 43.4 cents per $100 of assessed property value.

The proposed budget drops it to 35.5 cents per $100. But that’s 3.8 cents higher than the revenue-neutral rate of 31.7 cents per $100. The revenue-neutral rate is the tax rate the city would need to set to get the same amount of revenue as before the revaluation.

Raleigh property owners got new assessed values this year due to the 2024 Wake County revaluation.

Before the revaluation, the owner of a median-priced home in Raleigh ($257,730) would have paid $1,115 in city property taxes.

Now, the median home value in Raleigh is $391,705, and the homeowner would pay $1,391 in city property taxes under the proposed budget.

That’s a $276 increase, or nearly 25%.

Raleigh property owners also pay a Wake County property tax.

One penny of the city’s tax rate generates $11.4 million, up 44% from $7.9 million.

A penny of the tax rate is still dedicated to affordable housing, street resurfacing and park maintenance. The proposed tax increase includes one penny dedicated to deferred maintenance and implementing the city’s future pay and classification study.

Matthew Cooper, president, left, and Rick Armstrong, spokesperson, of the Raleigh Police Protective Association along with dozens of police officers, demand higher pay from the city of Raleigh during a rally outside city hall on Tuesday, April 9, 2024.
Matthew Cooper, president, left, and Rick Armstrong, spokesperson, of the Raleigh Police Protective Association along with dozens of police officers, demand higher pay from the city of Raleigh during a rally outside city hall on Tuesday, April 9, 2024.

Public safety

The manager is proposing a 5% market-rate raise for front-line firefighters, police officers and 911 call takers. Some of those employees could see another 5% merit-based increase.

About 532 people in the Fire Department and 502 in the Police Department are eligible for both 5% raises, according to Robin Deacle, communications director for the city.

The budget is also recommending raising the starting salaries for the city’s entry-level, public-safety positions.

“We’ve heard a lot of from our police and fire employees needing increases because, unfortunately, our city’s sort of in the bottom tier of those starting salaries for employees,” said Sadia Sattar, Raleigh’s budget director.

That’s one reason the police have 80 to 90 vacancies, or about 10 percent of the force, said Rick Armstrong, spokesperson for the police association.

“We have them going to Wake Forest,” Armstrong said during an April rally outside city hall. “We have them going to Cary. So a lot of surrounding police departments are, in essence, stealing our police officers, giving them a few thousand dollars more a year, and they’re going. So we believe a substantial raise would stop that immediately.”

Matthew Cooper, president of the Raleigh Police Protective Association, was present at the city meeting and said he looks forward to meeting with city staff and city leaders about a stronger commitment for law enforcement staff.

Raleigh used federal funding for the Police Department’s ACORNS unit (Addressing Crises through Outreach, Referrals, Networking and Service), which provides some services for homeless people and people in a mental health crisis. Those positions will now be funded within the department.

The proposed budget also includes four new, civilian traffic investigators.

Potential increases for some public safety employees under Raleigh’s 2024-25 proposed budget.
Potential increases for some public safety employees under Raleigh’s 2024-25 proposed budget.

Other budget items

  • The proposed budget includes a $1.70 monthly increase for solid waste services, a 29 cent monthly increase in the stormwater fee and a 4% increase in water and sewer rates.

  • Some solid waste, parks, water and transportation staff members will see a 6% market-based pay increase.

  • The proposed budget brings back bus fares. GoRaleigh has been fare free since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. About 1 in 3 riders will still qualify for free rides through various GoRaleigh programs.

  • Dix Park will see an increase of 13 city employees between parks and engineering, under the proposed budget. That’s due to the Gipson Play Plaza opening next year and the city taking ownership of three state buildings on the property.

A public hearing on the budget will be held at 7 p.m. June 4. People must sign-up by 5 p.m. May 31 to speak.