Mount Holly council adopts $42.37 million fiscal 2025-26 budget and fee schedule

Mount Holly City Council on June 9, 2025 approved a balanced fiscal year 2025-26 budget of $42,369,691 and an accompanying fee schedule following a public hearing and brief public comment.

City Manager Jonathan Blanton, who presented the proposal, said the recommended budget is “balanced at $42,369,691” and described it as one of the most conservative budgets the city has produced in several years. Blanton told council the general fund is balanced at $25,216,517 and the water and sewer fund at $15,903,301, and he outlined planned capital spending of $31,279,928.

The budget package includes a 12% increase in water rates and a 6% increase in sewer-related rates based on a recent study by Raftelis; Blanton said those increases will generate an estimated $624,000 in additional water revenue and $368,000 in additional sewer revenue. The manager also described a $15 million allocation for decommissioning the wastewater treatment plant and line-item investments in projects including the Dutchman’s Creek greenway work and other infrastructure upgrades.

During the public hearing, resident Bob Hendricks urged council to reconsider the utility rate increases, saying the increases are not a single event but part of a multi-year trajectory and recommending council “pull back” the proposed utility increase and re-evaluate priorities. Resident Ned Brantley raised unrelated riparian-buffer concerns (see separate article).

Councilmember Huff moved to approve the budget; Councilmember Harris seconded. The mayor called for a voice vote and declared the motion passed. Council subsequently approved the proposed fee schedule by voice vote after a motion and second; the meeting record states the motions passed but does not include a roll-call tally.

Blanton and staff outlined how the budget uses fund balance only for one-time capital projects, not for ongoing operational costs, and said the city’s unassigned fund balance is roughly 30% (well above the state-recommended minimum). The manager also noted several planned capital and operating items funded in the budget: $673,500 for museum space construction at the municipal complex; $3,196,531 (identified in the presentation) toward the Dutchman’s Creek greenway project (funding sourced in part from American Rescue Plan Act allocations); $85,630 in camera upgrades; $178,000 for communications and technology for public safety staff; $366,634 for sanitation and streets equipment; and $100,000 for recreation and trail improvements.

In the manager’s subsequent report, Blanton said the city has ordered basin-cleaning work as part of decommissioning inactive parts of the wastewater treatment plant and expects to transition wastewater service to the city of Charlotte later this fall; the basin-cleaning work is expected within the next 60 days.

Council did not attach conditions or amendments to the budget in the meeting minutes. Next steps described by staff include implementation of the listed capital projects and routine reporting to council on major construction and the wastewater-decommissioning timeline.