From $500 to $700: Boiling Spring Lakes City Manager Explains Why Your Tax Bill May Rise 42%

"It creates a stormwater department with civil engineers. It also brings our law enforcement salaries aligned with our regional municipal partners. The third piece of this puzzle is that it also allows us to build up our fund balance."

BRUNSWICK COUNTY (WWAY) –We’re approaching the time when many municipalities are reviewing their annual budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Commissioners are closely looking at a proposed property tax increase to help fund a number of city services in Boiling Spring Lakes.

This comes while fire crews are battling a huge wildfire, and some residents getting upset about road closures. We wanted to know more about the increase, so the City’s Manager, Gordon Hargrove, explained exactly how much of a hike it is.

“It’s proposed right now- an 8% tax hike it proposed. But it’s right around 42- percent,” Hargrove said. “When you look at it and say it like that, it sounds like a large increase, but it’s needed. These are things that should have been addressed years ago.”

Hargrove explains this will bring the tax rate to 27 cents. So figuratively, if you have a home worth $260,000, a 19-cent tax rate will cost a homeowner $500 in taxes. A 27-cent rate will increase it to $700 — $200 more to kick out. He says the pain should lead to gains.

“It creates a stormwater department with civil engineers. It also brings our law enforcement salaries aligned with our regional municipal partners. The third piece of this puzzle is that it also allows us to build up our fund balance,” Hargrove shared.

A fund balance is a savings account for the city used to hold the city over during catastrophes like Hurricane Florence. Hargrove says the state treasurer’s Local Government Commission suggests that the city operates on a 34% fund balance. Hargrove says the city is at 12%.

“We’re not broke, but we could be a lot healthier,” Hargrove said.

Hargrove says the city hasn’t raised taxes since 2021. He says a hike has been overdue, especially if residents want good government services. However, people may not take the increase lightly. Many of them are still asking elected officials about repaired roads and rebuilt dams.

“At 19 cents on a $100 valuation, you’re going to get this level of service. But, if you’re going to demand this level of service, you can’t give that to the community off of 19 cents,” Hargrove shared.