Mayor’s FY 2026 proposal funds in‑house ambulance service, flags property‑tax reassessment impacts

Wilmington’s mayor on March 20 proposed a fiscal 2026 operating plan that would hold the city’s property‑tax rate steady while adding $14 million to fund an in‑house ambulance service and creating a $2.5 million neighborhood stabilization pot, officials said at a Finance Committee hearing April 2.

The proposal, presented to the Finance Committee by the mayor’s office and the Office of Management and Budget, would keep the property‑tax rate unchanged, increase water and sewer rates by 6.5 percent and stormwater rates by 6 percent, and budget a general‑fund surplus of about $2.8 million as presented. The administration said the water/sewer fund would total about $95 million and the capital program roughly $199 million under the proposal.

Why it matters: the budget would expand emergency medical services staffing and create neighborhood repair dollars while the county’s court‑ordered reassessment of property values could alter which property classes pay more or less tax. Those two items—the EMS expansion and the reassessment—drove much of the committee’s questioning.

Major program and revenue highlights - Emergency Medical Services: The proposal includes a roughly $14 million allocation to bring ambulance service into the Fire Department. The administration said that change would add 30 EMS…