Huntersville staff advise holding tax rate; board weighs folding $154 solid-waste fee into property tax

Anthony (staff member) told the Huntersville Town Board at a budget workshop that the town is proposing to keep the tax rate unchanged unless board members direct otherwise and opened discussion on several fees, including the annual $154 solid-waste fee.

The solid-waste fee, Anthony said, currently covers about 58% of the direct cost of the program; residents pay $154 on their annual tax bill while the town subsidizes the remainder. The fee generates about $3.3 million a year based on projected residential customers, Anthony said. “If I don’t hear from you, the tax rate is staying the same,” Anthony said when opening debate on fees.

Why it matters: folding the standalone solid-waste fee into the town’s property-tax rate would spread the cost differently across taxpayers and could affect commercial property owners, who do not pay the separate solid-waste fee. Staff estimated that covering…