Mecklenburg County leaders presented the FY2026 recommended budget, which included cuts to 25 departments and a tax increase.
MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — Mecklenburg County leaders unveiled the proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year Wednesday — which included a property tax increase and cuts to nearly every department.
County Manager Dena Diorio explained these choices comes from a $29 million deficit, largely due to sales tax growth leveling off after the pandemic.
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The proposal outlines how the county plans to allocate funding across key areas such as public safety, health and human services, education, and transportation.
These are the highlights:
Property tax increase
The proposed budget includes $0.96 property tax increase for Mecklenburg County. For the median home price of $377,000, that would mean an increase of $36.19 per year.
Diorio says this, along with cuts, is something they had seen coming since last year.
“This is probably going to be sustained for a while. We’re seeing sales tax increases of less than 3% a year, and that has been the revenue source that we’ve used to really fund a lot of the growth that we needed to do in the county,” she said. “Not having that kind of growth has really put us in a position where we have to make some of these difficult decisions.”
Cuts across the board
Nonprofits will be hit especially hard, with roughly $6 million in funding cuts. The budget would also practically eliminate the community service grants program, saving an extra $2 million.
Diorio says this was not made in a blanket cut. Rather, each organization was judged individually on a rubric basis.
“We also looked at all the nonprofits that we currently fund on a regular basis and looked at things like performance, utilization of county dollars, department recommendation cost per individual, and really made some decisions about those that were, in our perspective, not doing as well as some of the other nonprofits,” Diorio said.
The fund balance, or the county’s rainy-day fund, would also see a massive cut. Diorio is recommending $30 million, which would be the lowest appropriation in her tenure.
CMS requests $667 million in county funding
Education is not receiving the same treatment; the recommended budget fulfills exactly what the CMS Board of Education asked for, including a $28 million increase over last year’s allocation.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) is asking the county for more than $667 million in operating funds, most of which would go to teacher salaries.
“Superintendent Dr. Hill is trying to do is to make sure that you can attract and retain the very best teachers, and you can only do that if you if you pay them well,” Diorio said.
The funding request is part of CMS’s proposed $1.95 billion overall budget for the 2025–26 school year.
The County budget would also spend $3.4 million to add 10 new Pre-K classrooms.
“The community has repeatedly told us their number one priority is education,” said Chairman Mark Jerrell. “Whether you look at Meck Pre-K, whether you’re looking at K-12 or CPCC, that’s the number one priority.”
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City pushing for 1-cent sales tax to fund transit plan
Transportation is also expected to be a major talking point in upcoming discussions. The city of Charlotte is counting on the county to support a proposed 1-cent sales tax increase to fund its multi-billion-dollar transit expansion plan.
The plan includes expanded bus services and new rail lines, including the long-discussed Red and Silver Lines.
Before the tax can be put on the ballot for voters, it must receive approval from the North Carolina General Assembly and Mecklenburg County commissioners.
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What’s next?
The County will host a budget workshop on May 21, followed by a public hearing on May 22. Commissioners hope to have a budget adopted June 3.
Contact Destiny Richards at [email protected] and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
