New Hanover County commissioners want the county's staff to crunch their numbers again after hearing a recommended tax rate for the next fiscal year’s budget on Monday.

The $488.5 million New Hanover County budget presented to commissioners Monday morning as a recommendation includes a 10-cent property tax rate cut, from the current 45 cents to 35 cents. Because of the tax revaluation the county performed this year, the lower rate doesn’t equate to lower tax bills.

The recommended rate of 35 cents per $100 of assessed value, “coupled with higher property values, provides additional revenue to fund county services in the face of rising costs,” budget documents state.

The 35-cent rate would result in a county tax bill of about $170 per month, an increase of $39 per month compared to the last fiscal year, for a home assessed at $581,000, according to the recommended budget.

"What sticks out to most people is that the recommended budget for FY 26 is $40 million more than the current year budget. I do not deny that particular fact; that is about an 8% increase in the cost of the budget," said County Manager Chris Coudriet as he presented the recommended budget Monday at the board's regular meeting. "But these are the costs that we believe are necessary to provide the service and the expectation of the board."

All of the commissioners said Monday that they want to see a lower recommendation, citing ongoing economic pressures that include inflation and flat sales tax collections.

Describing numerous examples of what he sees as beneficial county projects, Commissioner Rob Zapple said, “I understand the legitimate need for an increase in county revenues. However, after listening to my fellow commissioners and the many emails that we have received from the public, I am requesting that you and our staff do the impossible. Please bring us back a budget that is based on 33.9 cents per $100 ... or what could be also described as an 11.1-cent reduction to our current tax rate of 45 cents."

Zapple also requested the staff reconsider the recommended budget's list of enhancements – nearly $5 million in requests for new expenditures from county departments  – and the restoration of department funds that were cut in last year's budget cycle.

"Please revise that list and bring it forward with your recommendations and a new budget proposal for our review well in advance of our next meeting on June 2," Zapple said.

Board chairman Bill Rivenbark and Commissioner Stephanie Walker told County Manager Chris Coudriet they, too, want to see a budget proposal with the 33.9-cent rate.

Commissioner Dane Scalise said during the meeting that he feels the revenue-neutral rate of 29.2 cents should be the one recommended.

“I know that I'm probably not going to be in the voting majority on this budget. That's all right; we don't always vote the majority. I think we could have done a little bit better about reducing the number of things that are wants versus needs,” Scalise said.

Building on what Scalise said, Commissioner LeAnn Pierce shared her concerns about a higher-than-neutral rate and the nearly $40 million (more precisely $39.8 million) increase in the overall budget.

"My concern here is that all three beach towns and the city of Wilmington have all indicated they're going with a revenue-neutral rate, and the county is not doing that. So I believe that there are things that we can do. There's things in this budget that I don't agree with. It's very frustrating," she said. "I look at the new positions, I look at the open positions that we have, and the issue here is, if the $39 million were all going to better our school system, maybe I could understand that. But it's not. It's growing the government, and that's just something that I don't agree with."

Coudriet said the recommended rate in Monday's presentation is 35 cents, "but if you want to separate what we have for debt reserve, 1.1 cents, the whole of the county government is actually operating on 33.9 cents per $100 of value."

A public hearing on the budget is expected to be held at the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners' meeting on June 2, with possible adoption during its June 16 meeting. The deadline for the county to approve a budget is June 30.