Mecklenburg County residents shared feedback over an upcoming county budget during a public hearing at a Board of Commissioners meeting on Thursday evening.
Mecklenburg’s county manager, Dena R. Diorio, and the county’s budget director, Aridan Cox, presented the recommended $2.5 billion budget for FY25 to the board on May 16.
Many comments focused on the need to fund Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS), art programs and parks and recreation, among other concerns.
Parks and Recreation
Several residents urged the commissioners to consider increased funding for parks and recreation.
One resident, Nancy Nicholson, voiced concern for the county’s greenspaces.
“[The Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners has] respectfully increased funding for our parks and greenways in the past few years,” Nicholson said during the public hearing. “And yet, we must do more.”
According to the Trust for Public Land, a nonprofit dedicated to ensuring green spaces nationwide, only 38% of Mecklenburg County residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park.
In the past two budget years, Commissioners have allocated $50 million to land acquisition for greenways and parks, but the most recent budget allocated $35 million. Nicholson urged the board to consider more.
“As one of the fastest growing cities in the country, our greenspaces have to keep up,” Nicholson said.
Others encouraged the commissioners to dedicate more land for green space and recreation.
Only 7% of the county’s land is used for parks and recreation, according to the Trust for Public Land. The national median is 15%.
Currently, the FY25 budget proposes $4 million for staffing needs.
Hope Wright, a representative of Sustain Charlotte, a group of residents in the Greater Charlotte Area advocating for sustainable land use and transportation choices, was involved in a parks and recreation budget petition that she said was sent to commissioners in April. The petition has more than 1,000 signatures from residents.
The petition asks for support for land acquisition by budgeting at least $50 million. The group hopes that the increased funding will sustain land acquisition for additional parks, greenways, nature preserves and recreation centers, among other things.
“Increasing our investment in park and recreation will not only improve access for more residents but will benefit our community’s health, economy, and environment, and quality of life,” Wright said. “Please continue to grow our investment so everyone in our community can enjoy these benefits.”
CMS funding
Several community members spoke in support of the budget’s near 9% increase in funding for CMS, which mainly comprised operational costs.
“The proposed budget reflects the importance that our community places on investing [in] education, early childhood development and early literacy,” Munro Richardson, executive director of Read Charlotte, a local nonprofit dedicated to improving children’s literacy, said.
Mechelle Vaughn, a CMS educator, expressed support for funding the district’s new $653 million requested budget but said there’s still a need to increase teacher pay and address operational needs.
“We are in buildings that are falling apart,” Vaughn told the commissioners during the public hearing.
Vaughn described conditions including teaching in “dilapidated buildings without air condition or ventilation” and teaching in “trailers that have mold.”
Vaughn also expressed the need to increase pay for CMS staff.
“If I wasn’t married, I couldn’t afford to teach,” Vaughn said, noting the difference in single and dual-income households.
According to a 2024 report by the National Education Association, North Carolina currently ranks 38th in the nation for average teacher salary.
Gail Chauncey, part of Public School Strong, an initiative of H.E.A.L. Together, a coalition of people supporting North Carolina public schools, said she supports the proposed supplemental funding for CMS to increase staff pay.
“CMS pay supplements won’t resolve the pay and cost of living disparities,” Chauncey told Commissioners. “But, it will move the needle in the right direction.”
Other community members expressed concern over the overall funding CMS received, noting that the district needs more money.
North Carolina ranks 38th in the nation for per-student spending — around $13,173 a student.
CMS spends just below that, at around $13,053 per pupil.
The arts
Another item of discussion for some residents was the county’s proposed arts funding.
Diorio recommended investing $11 million of the FY25 budget in Mecklenburg arts and culture —more than three times pre-COVID funding.
Many residents praised the increase.
“On behalf of the 70,000 young people, adults, artists and technicians…we wholeheartedly support the budget proposal, particularly [the] section which supports arts and arts education,” James Meena, director of Opera Carolina, a professional opera company in Charlotte, said during the public hearing.
Mical Hutson, a member of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, also spoke in support of funding for arts and culture.
“Music changed our lives,” Hutson said. “Engagement in arts education significantly benefits student’s academic and social development.”
Diorio also recommended an additional $5.4 million to advance workforce development through the Arts and Culture Plan — a comprehensive approach to providing a stable funding stream enabling artists to earn a living wage and offer cultural experiences to the entire community.
One Charlotte resident who produces small theatre shows, Anne Lambert, said she hopes that in the upcoming year, independent artists can work with commissioners and other local government officials to utilize the Arts and Culture Plan’s framework to access more of its funding.
“I can’t make a living as a theater artist in Charlotte because I can’t afford to do it,” Lambert said. “I want a seat at the table.”
Health
Community members also spoke in support of increasing funding for adult daycare.
One Mecklenburg County resident and caregiver, Jackie Jenkins, advocated for funding for adult daycare services.
She told commissioners that when she had to care for her father during his stage five kidney disease and a stepmom with Alzheimer’s, she was not prepared.
“I was truly at a loss of what to do,” Jenkins tearfully said. “Then I found out about adult daycare, thanks to this program I have been able to keep my full-time job…adult daycare services give my mom the level and quality of care she needs as her memory continues to quickly decline. They are not just a daycare; they are so much more. I don’t know what my family would do without adult daycare services.”
She said increased funding would ensure families receive financial assistance to attend and help maintain active facilities.
Letisha Duncan, who works full-time, began using adult daycare services after her father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s eight years ago.
“Caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s is a full-time commitment that plays a significant emotional, physical and financial strain on families,” Duncan said. “[Adult daycare centers] are a lifeline…Having access to a quality adult day center means that I can continue to work and provide for my family.”
She said that the proposed funding could be used to increase the capacity of existing facilities to lower waitlist times, train staff to handle the needs of Alzheimer’s patients and subsidize costs for families struggling to afford services.
“Supporting adult daycare services is not just about helping those with Alzheimer’s,” Duncan said. “It’s about recognizing the silent struggle that many families face with providing them with the resources they need to cope.”
Property tax increases
Lambert also spoke in support of the increases in property taxes.
Diorio recommended a 1.5 cent increase in the property tax rate — half a cent per $100 valuation — to cover what the county manager says will fix the revenue shortfall, according to Diorio.
That means a median homeowner, $383,000, will pay $57.45 per year more or $4.79 monthly.
“I am personally willing to pay more [in] property taxes,” Lambert said. “Because Charlotte is a thriving town, and we need more tax revenue from our residents to pay for the things that we need.”
