There. Was that so hard to say? Is it at all surprising to any sentient resident of Mecklenburg County?
The budget proposed by County Manager Harry Jones would use this year’s property revaluation and a property tax rate 3.66 cents higher than the county’s published revenue neutral rate — 78.74 cents versus a proposed rate of 82.40 cents — to goose total county property tax revenue by $69.3m. next fiscal year. Property tax revenue would zoom from $837.8m. this year to $907.1m. next year — a whopping increase of 8.25 percent.
The budget also banks on a $10m. increase in local sales tax revenue, from $170m. to $180m. In other words, Mecklenburg County is right back to assuming that local tax revenue can, will, and should grow at the same rate experienced during the Boom Years. County government intends to tax itself out of recession and budget constraints — and local taxpayers can go to hell.
What is somewhat remarkable is that county fiscal staff thinks that a county still down 32,000 jobs from pre-recession highs, with an unemployment rate of 10 percent, can shoulder this tax burden. The county’s fiscal 08-09 budget only collected $802.4m. in total property tax. This means that the county expects a smaller local economy to throw off 13 percent more in property tax revenue than at the start of the contraction.
This is madness.
Update: More details on the spending increases in the proposed budget here.
