Orange County manager recommends small tax-rate uptick to fund schools, safety-net programs; public hearing draws widespread appeals to fully fund schools and ­

Orange County Manager Travis Myron presented the county’s recommended fiscal 2025–26 budget at a Board of County Commissioners public hearing on May 29, 2025, proposing a 2.95¢ increase over the revenue‑neutral tax rate to help pay for school planning and design and to support county operations.

The recommended budget comes after a revaluation that raised the county’s tax base to about $33,300,000,000. Myron told the board the revenue‑neutral rate — the tax rate that would produce the same revenue as the current year after accounting for natural growth — is 62.64¢ per $100 of assessed value, and that the manager’s recommended budget “does recommend a 2.95¢ increase over the revenue neutral rate” to fund school planning, design and operations.

The manager said the recommended budget emphasizes restraint and flexibility: roughly 60% of departments were held at or below base budgets; a 10% across‑the‑board reduction to training and travel was applied; four vacant positions would be eliminated while four other positions were added to reduce expense or generate revenue; some general fund expenses were shifted to other funding sources such as occupancy taxes; Sportsplex and the Arts Commission would be charged administrative overhead; and special districts would be charged for tax collection and remittance. The presentation also noted no budgeted sales‑tax growth and no assumed growth in Register of Deeds revenue for 2024–25.

On schools, the recommended budget contains a 3% increase to current expense — about $3,200,000 countywide — which the manager said yields a countywide per‑pupil total of $5,877, an increase of $211 from 2024–25. Myron said the recommended amount does not meet all continuation requests: Chapel Hill‑Carrboro City Schools’ continuation request was about $1.8 million higher than the recommendation, and Orange County Schools’ request exceeded the recommendation by about $205,000. The recommended budget also includes a 2% wage adjustment estimated at roughly $1,800,000 and continuation of the merit award program; the county plans to pick up increases in retirement contributions and health‑insurance costs for active employees and retirees.

The recommended budget includes modest social‑safety‑net additions: a $24,000 increase to the long‑time homeowners assistance (tax assistance) program; $70,000 reallocated for the emergency housing assistance program; $25,000 for cold‑weather cots as part of the partnership to end homelessness; $100,000 additional social‑services funding for in‑home aides; $40,000 in aging for in‑home respite; and use of $62,000 from the master aging plan balance to supplement an urgent repair program. The manager also recommended $40,000 for vaccine supplies in the Health Department after a grant expired. The recommended budget would add $50,000 to a Social Justice Reserve and reduce the appropriated fund balance to create flexibility.

Myron closed by noting the budget schedule: a work session is scheduled for next Thursday and budget adoption is set for June 17. He then took no additional questions before the board opened the public hearing.

Public comments at the hearing focused heavily on school funding, home repairs for older and low‑income homeowners, and land‑conservation funding. Dozens of residents and teachers urged the county to fully fund school continuation and expansion requests — including restoration of master’s pay differentials, restored elementary teacher assistant positions, higher pay for bus drivers and other lowest‑paid staff, and funding for instructional technology facilitators. Speakers including George Griffin, chair of the Chapel Hill‑Carrboro City Schools board, asked the commissioners to “please reject this proposed amendment on June 5,” referring to a proposed amendment discussed by the board that would reduce pay‑as‑you‑go (pay‑go) school capital funding by nearly $10 million. Several speakers said reducing the pay‑go component would undercut the November 2024 school bond program’s implementation and erode public trust.

Residents also urged the county to increase funding for urgent home repairs and long‑time homeowner assistance. Speakers described waiting lists, plumbing failures and houses in disrepair and asked the county to expand recently allocated funds. The manager had earlier noted a proposal to use $62,000 of the master aging plan balance for urgent repairs and showed the recommended $24,000 increase to the long‑time homeowner assistance program.

The public hearing was formally opened and later closed by motion; the board took a short recess afterward and resumed with advisory‑board appointments later in the agenda. Commissioners and staff noted that the manager’s recommended budget is now subject to commissioner amendments and technical corrections before the June work session and June 17 adoption vote; staff posted commissioner budget amendments on the county website and set deadlines for public comment prior to the June work session.

What happened next: the board proceeded to advisory‑board appointments and other agenda items. The budget now moves to a work session next week and to an adoption vote June 17; the manager and speakers repeatedly encouraged residents to submit written comments before the work session.