Cary's FY2027 budget recommends 3.75-cent tax increase, major public-safety hiring and station plans

Cary Town staff presented a recommended FY2027 budget that proposes a 3.75-cent increase in the property tax rate (to 37.75 cents), a 4% overall utility rate increase and a multi-year “smoothing” approach to stagger staffing and capital investments. Assistant Town Manager Stacy Titi said the package is built on council and public priorities and places community safety at the top.

Budget totals: staff presented an all-funds FY2027 recommendation of $573.5 million with $445.9 million in operating budgets and $127.6 million in capital projects. Stacy said the proposal includes both operating and capital investments aligned to council priorities and that several projects will be funded with voter-approved 2019 general-obligation bonds and Wake Transit revenues.

Tax and rate impact: Stacy said the 3.75-cent tax increase would add roughly $20 a month on the typical Cary house at a $650,000 assessed value; a 4% utility-rate increase was projected at about $38 per month for a typical family. The recommended solid-waste and recycling fee increase is $2 per month to $28.

Public-safety spending and staffing: chiefs urged large near-term investments. The police chief told council: “This fiscal year we need 21 police officers and we need six 911 center dispatchers…we’re looking at an additional 20 officers over the next two budget cycles,” and said the department remains below peers on officers-per‑1,000-population. The fire chief described the need for two new stations (Station 10 and 11) and future Station 12; each engine company requires about 15 personnel and new apparatus.

Smoothing and tradeoffs: staff framed the tax and rate changes as the first step of a three-year smoothing plan designed to spread costs and hiring to avoid large single-year spikes. Council and staff discussed tradeoffs between new capital and maintenance—particularly road resurfacing—after staff limited the capital program from the larger set of requests so that it fit available funding and policy constraints.

Next steps and council process: the manager asked for feedback and scheduled two follow-up work sessions for deeper line‑by‑line review. Adoption is expected before the June 25 budget deadline; staff said they would return with more detail on tax-rate options, capital phasing, and an action plan for public-safety hiring.