Davidson Town Hall homing in on revenue neutral tax rate. How will it affect your tax bill?

Back in early March, aShortChronicle told readers about the revaluation sticker shock that was to be presented to Davidson Town Hall.  In that post, by our calculations the projected "revenue neutral" tax rate would be somewhere between 27.25 - 28.0 cents per 1000 in valuation.  At the time, an official number from Town Hall wasn't available.  As promised, a follow-up was sent to staff on that question.

Per Piet Swart, Town Finance Director, the current number is 27.5c based on a "2% appeal adjustment by Mecklenburg County".   However, when the final appeal adjustment comes in, it is expected to be closer to 4%.  That means the ultimate RNTR will likely be at or barely above 28c.

Davidson currently has the highest tax rate among the North Mecklenburg towns coming in at 35c.  If the Board does the right thing this budget cycle and adopts a revenue neutral tax rate, the rate would drop a full 7 cents - possibly reducing the tax gap between Davidson and the town's neighbors.  Make no mistake though, if Davidson does not lower the rate to 28c, that is a de facto tax increase, meaning tax bills in general will be going up.

There of course will be arguments for doing just that.  Here are a few citizens are likely to hear.

• The recent citizen survey asked about spending money on public facilities such as sidewalks, parks and greenways.  In 2017 citizens approved bonds for such things.  However, bonds aren't free money and will require tax dollars to make bond payments.  The Citizen Survey though shows 65% wanting no more than 2c of a tax increase to pay for these things.
• The ever present topic of affordable housing will also no doubt receive more discussion.  While there were segments of town that approved of significantly raising taxes for this, overall there is actually very limited support for Affordable Housing when it comes to spending money on it.  Fully, 69% want no tax increase and only 31% are willing to fund affordable housing with a 1c increase.
• Davidson also recently acquired the old IB Middle School property on South Street for a new Town Hall.  Renovations for police and fire services are also planned for the current Main Street site.  Both will cost millions and there is likely to be a bond question on the ballot this November to pay for it.  Don't be surprised to hear arguments of raising taxes now assuming the bond passes.

In addition to the above big ticket items, there will also be numerous smaller ideas thrown out by staff and electeds to spend more money.  There always are.

So while there may be a limited appetite among residents to pay for some new items, there should be no mistake in assuming that appetite us very big at all.

Budget decisions must be made by the end of June.