Cary, Morrisville approve budgets without tax increases

Morrisville, N.C. — Morrisville and Cary town officials adopted annual budgets Thursday night without increases to the local tax rates.

Public outcry at a meeting last week led the Morrisville Board of Commissioners to unanimously reject a proposed budget with a 19 percent property tax increase. After an additional two days of budget negotiations, commissioners unanimously approved a budget that put the tax rate at 36.7 cents per $100 of property value.

The Cary Town Council approved a $290 million budget for the coming year with a tax rate of 33 cents per $100 of assessed value. The resulting tax bill will be roughly equal to the one last year when the rate was 42 cents per $100 of assessed value before Wake County's property revaluation.

Cary did adopt a $2.25 increase to the monthly solid waste fee and a 5.5 percent increase for water and sewer customers.

The budget funds 25 new positions in Cary and provides money for a downtown streetscape project, street paving, the first stages of two new parks and the renovation of a former school into a community arts space.