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Whiteville council adopts balanced FY 2026–27 budget with tax increase
Summary
The Whiteville City Council approved a balanced fiscal-year 2026–27 budget ordinance that includes a proposed 5¢ property-tax increase, utility rate changes and a 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment to preserve public safety and services. The ordinance was approved by voice vote; detailed roll-call tallies were not recorded in the transcript.
The Whiteville City Council approved the city’s FY 2026–27 budget ordinance (No. 2026-0102) after a presentation from city staff and public comment.
City manager (speaker 4) said the general fund will receive approximately $7,400,000 in revenue next year, with property taxes making up roughly 45% of that total and sales taxes about 25%. The manager emphasized fiscal pressures tied to an increase in state health insurance costs, energy expenses and inflation, noting those factors together account for about $338,000 in added costs. "We are north of 98% on our property tax collection in the 1st year of collecting our taxes," staff said, and recommended the budget to maintain police, fire and other services.
The adopted ordinance sets the municipal tax rate components discussed in the budget message and authorizes limited interfund and intradepartmental transfers by the city manager within specified limits. Council also proposed targeted rate increases in enterprise services: a 4% water rate increase, a 3% sanitation/solid-waste adjustment (contract capped at 3%), and a 9% stormwater increase aimed primarily at capital expenditures.
Council discussed that the proposed 5¢ property-tax increase includes roughly 2¢ attributable to a state-mandated 2.4% health-insurance payroll surcharge. "This is a surcharge based on our total payroll… It's basically an unfunded mandate," a council speaker said in explaining part of the tax rationale. A motion to approve the budget was made on the floor and passed by voice vote; the transcript records verbal 'ayes' and no roll-call tally is provided.
The budget message projects about $14.8 million in proposed operating expenditures and identifies about $25 million in capital projects planned or underway. Staff said department heads requested roughly $4.66 million in projects and the administration proposed funding $343,000 of those requests, including $200,000 for police vehicles and $230,000 for public-works trucks.
Next steps: the ordinance was adopted at the meeting. The transcript does not include a detailed roll-call vote or the names of each voting member recorded in the minutes.
