Davidson unveils FY2019 budget with 7.15% spending increase

Tuesday night, Davidson taxpayers got the first glimpse of spending plans for the upcoming fiscal year that starts July 1st.

With strong economic growth expected, the budget plans to keep the property tax rate even at 35 cents.  That results in the Town bringing in significantly more "revenue".  This year each penny on the tax rate equates to $202,000 in taxes to the town.  Keeping the rate as-is means Davidson continues to have a rate significantly higher than its neighbors.

Not many people these days get a "raise" of more than 3%, but next year's ToD budget plans to see spending going up more than 7%.  That is a pretty eye popping number when one considers it doesn't include much if any of the biggest spending items related to the bonds passed last November OR spending related to the new public facilities being planned.  If/when all that spending kicks in over the coming years along with the 2019 property revaluation one can expect higher tax bills as well.

While a 7% general fund increase is a big number, the bulk of the new spending is for much needed additional capacity for the the Town's Public Safety departments, meaning Fire and Police service.  Those are both areas where additional spending is needed and required.

With the opening of Fire Station #2 imminent, spending for fire service will rise 21.3% to $1,763,477.  This is driven by increased staffing and equipment needs as well as debt service on the new fire station itself.  The Town has just announced the grand opening of Fire Station #2 is set for June 9th.  See this Facebook event for more details.

The Davidson Police department budget is planning for a 14.4% increase to $2,533,171.  This is driven primarily by increases in staffing.  The DPD is often short handed with only 2 officers on duty on some shifts.  Three new officer positions are included in this budget, two sergeant positions and one SRO (School Resource Officer) in partnership with the Community School of Davidson.

Regarding the SRO position at CSD, Police Chief Penny Dunn  said "we are still working on details with CSD at this point on a proposed SRO to work with their campuses. A SRO is an employee of a town/city as a police officer with assignment to a campus during the school year. Schools partner with a town or city government to fund the position costs."


Since public safety is local government's top priority, it is good to see the town addressing these areas.

Other items of note in the current budget:

• A 3% merit pool is included for pay increases.  This is not a blanket 3% raise for all employees, but a pool that will be divided based on merit.
• Continuum continues to drain $1 million from the budget on an annual basis.
• Solid waste budget was not presented as the Town is in the process of bidding out the service, something that happens every 5 years.  Solid waste is covered by the Town's $201 solid waste fee.
• $400,000 was set aside in a "capital projects" fund for future spending.

The budget must be passed by state statue before the current fiscal year runs out.  This means the Board has relatively little time to review before a scheduled June 12th vote.  The public hearing on spending plans is scheduled for May 8th.