The Concord City Council unanimously approved the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 budget with no changes from the recommendation during the June 10 council meeting. The adopted budget follows the guidance of City Council and focuses on funding essential projects and services necessary to preserve, protect, and enhance the quality of life for Concord residents.
The city-wide budget of $275 million represents an overall increase of 2.3% over the Fiscal Year 2021 adopted budget. The budget maintains the city’s low tax rate of 48 cents per $100 of valuation, the same rate since 2013. With this rate, the Concord property tax would be $1,027 for a home valued at $214,000.
“The adopted budget maintains essential services to our citizens and businesses, and funds vital projects necessary to maintain and improve the quality of life in our growing city,” said City Manager Lloyd Payne. “I am proud of Team Concord’s resiliency and hard work throughout the past year as we battled the COVID-19 pandemic, and I am confident in their abilities to meet Council’s goals and keep our city strong for future opportunities and continued growth.”
During the public budget hearing, members of Council also commended staff for their hard work during an unprecedented and challenging year.
“Each year the Council gets together and talks about goals, and it amazes me how at the end of the year staff accomplishes the goals we set forth, and we do this each year without increasing the tax rate,” said Council Member Brian King. “I want to thank staff for all the hard work they do to implement our goals in a fiscally responsible way.”
“Unchanged for eight years, that’s pretty incredible to provide the services we do for our citizens,” added Council Member John Sweat, Jr. “Our employees take care of our equipment and facilities and make our job easier than it should be or could be; a lot of cities would like to boast that they haven’t raised the tax rate in eight years and can still provide the services they do to citizens - we are proud to boast that.”
Preserve
The FY22 adopted budget continues to preserve existing facilities and services. The Water Resources Department will make structural facility improvements and equipment replacements at the Coddle Creek and Hillgrove Water Treatment Plants. Altogether, the budget invests over $9.1 million in the water treatment plants to preserve facilities and ensure continued excellence in service delivery. The adopted budget also includes a two-percent water rate increase necessary to preserve existing facilities and meet the needs of a growing system.
In addition, the budget continues to set aside one cent of the tax rate, or roughly $1.41 million, for affordable and workforce housing to help preserve and increase housing opportunities for citizens most in need.
Protect
To help protect the quality of life in one of North Carolina’s fastest growing cities, and allow Concord to leverage state funding, the adopted budget continues to invest 2.5 pennies for transportation projects. Some of this roughly $3.5 million will fund pedestrian improvements for sidewalks to increase safety throughout the city. Other projects include needed road work at the intersection of Poplar Tent Road and Harris Road, and improvements at US 601 and Flowes Store Road. This funding will protect the city’s infrastructure both now and into the future – ensuring the community is well positioned to meet demand as the city grows.
Enhance
The adopted budget maintains a healthy investment in projects and services that enhance the quality of life for residents. The budget continues to set aside one cent of the tax rate, or roughly $1.41 million, for parks and recreation projects to improve existing facilities and outdoor recreation opportunities. Some projects funded this year include improvements to Caldwell Park and WW Flowes Park.
Beginning a multi-year process to bring solid waste services in-house is also a new step towards enhancing services for residents. The process will allow a steady path towards better service delivery and accountability.
Interested individuals may view the adopted FY22 budget online at concordnc.gov/budget.