Tensions soar as livid Leland residents share thoughts on budget, lengthy meeting

LELAND, NC (WWAY) — Hundreds of people came out to Town Hall in Leland for a public hearing on the proposed budget that includes a tax rate increase of 70-percent for Fiscal Year 2024-25.

People packed into council chambers for the meeting on Thursday night. According to a town spokeswoman, there are 186 seats in council chambers. Each seat was filled and there were two to three layers of people lined along the walls, and hundreds more spilling into the lobby areas. One resident who claimed to do a headcount said he stopped counting after 600.

Most people at the meeting were there for the public hearing on the budget. However, there were three other public hearings on the agenda prior to the budget item.

It took council about two hours to get to the budget item, leaving the already frustrated residents angry and feeling disrespected.

During the public hearing, 59 people signed up to speak following the budget presentation. Many people shared concern for their own budgets already being stretched thin and feared they would no longer be able to live in the area if the proposed budget is approved.

Even before hearing comments from the pubic, Leland mayor Brenda Bozeman urged council to make a motion to hold a budget workshop next month to further review it. They obliged, voting unanimously to hold a budget workshop on April 9 at 6 pm.