Wilmington City Council advances budget with tax increase, employee pay raises
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The Wilmington City Council took the first step Monday toward adopting a more than $350 million budget that would increase property taxes and raise wages for city employees.
Council members advanced the proposed fiscal year 2026-27 budget, which includes a 4.9-cent increase in the city property tax rate. If approved, the tax rate would rise to just over 33 cents per $100 of assessed property value.
The council approved a substitute tax ordinance in a 4-3 vote. Council members Kevin Spears, Salette Andrews, and Chakema Clinton-Quintana voted against the measure.
Council member David Joyner defended the proposed tax increase, stating that the additional revenue would help the city complete its long-delayed infrastructure and capital improvement projects.
“We have projects on our capital improvement list, infrastructure projects that are 10 years old,” Joyner said during Monday’s meeting. “I mean, I was in college when some of these were promised and now I’m sort of responsible, along with council, to get these over the finish line. So a 0.41 cent tax rate increase is going to get all of the projects that have been promised under our capital improvement project list over the finish line.”
The proposed budget also includes salary increases aimed at providing a living wage for city employees. Pay raises for police officers and firefighters would be capped at $15,000, while increases for other city employees, including workers in solid waste and human resources, would be capped at $12,000.
Jordan Pettid, president of the Wilmington Firefighters Union, said the higher wages would help the city retain current firefighters and attract recruits.
“Have that starting pay where now people come and look at us and they’re like, ‘Hey, I can make a living if I move there, I want to work for the city,’” Pettid said. “They just weren’t paying enough beforehand, so having that and then being able to keep the people we have.”
The budget received its first reading on Monday. A second reading and final vote are scheduled for the council’s June 15 meeting.
In other business, council members unanimously approved a resolution supporting two state bills that would regulate electric bicycles.
Council member Cassidy Santaguida introduced the resolution, citing concerns about increasing e-bike traffic and reports of children riding without helmets.
If approved by the General Assembly, Senate Bill 970 and House Bill 1084 would establish three classifications of e-bikes and grant municipalities authority to regulate their use on roads and pathways.
Council members also unanimously approved a resolution supporting the return of Navy Week to Wilmington.
