Hickory Council adopts $159 million budget, backs water-system investments and small rate, tax changes

The Hickory City Council on June 3 approved the city manager's recommended fiscal 2025–26 budget, a $159,000,000 spending plan that city staff said accelerates investments to build redundancy and resiliency in the city’s water and sewer system.

City Manager Warren Wood presented the recommended budget and told the council the proposal would ‘‘set us on with our water and sewer system and serving the generations in the future’’ if approved. The full package passed unanimously after a public hearing with no speakers.

The recommended budget increases total spending roughly 10% over the current year on paper, with operating funds rising about 6%. City staff emphasized three core funds represent about 80% of activity: the general fund ($78.8 million recommended), the water and sewer fund ($41.7 million recommended) and the solid waste fund. Wood told the council the presentation focuses on those three funds because of their scale and near-term needs.

To raise money for water projects, staff recommended raising the property tax rate by a half cent (from 45.5¢ to 46¢ as stated in the presentation) to generate roughly $425,000 annually that would be restricted to the water and sewer…