The tone of Thursday’s Raleigh/Wake State of the City, County, and Schools—an event put on by the Raleigh Chamber of Commerce to spotlight local government’s accomplishments—vacillated wildly between fun and serious.
There was a multi-course luncheon, complete with fudgy chocolate cake. There was a flash mob in which Raleigh’s mayor line danced shoulder-to-shoulder with municipal workers in cowboy hats. And there was some downright somber discussion about public school funding.
The event coincides with the final throes of budget season: the city, county, and school board have each, at a minimum, developed a draft budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Now they’re in various stages of getting those drafts approved, while also waiting to see how state-level appropriations trickle down to affect them.
It’s a somewhat austere budgeting year across the board. The city, county, and school system are struggling to support an ever-growing population amid inflation and economic uncertainty. They’ve had to make tough decisions about how to spend their money this year, and can’t count on much support from the state or federal government.
Raleigh and Wake County’s proposed budgets for fiscal year 2026 include investments in core functions of local government like staff pay, public safety, housing, education, and libraries, but do not introduce any big new programs or initiatives. Wake County Public Schools, which receive a substantial share of funding from the county, approved a budget that includes about $20 million in cuts. Now it looks like the school system will need to find $5 million more after the county offered less money than expected.
So what’s the state of the city, county, and schools? Local leaders’ message was that things are good for now, but future stability isn’t guaranteed. Speaking to an audience of local business leaders and fellow elected officials, Raleigh mayor Janet Cowell, Wake County Commission chair Susan Evans, and Wake County school board chair Chris Heagarty painted a picture of rapid growth, funding gaps, and an urgent need for collaboration with state lawmakers.
City of Raleigh
Ahead of the luncheon, an invitation promised that Cowell would “present her first comprehensive vision for Raleigh’s trajectory” in her remarks. Instead, the mayor retread familiar territory: Raleigh is a great place to live, with a strong economy and plenty of amenities. It also has its share of challenges around building housing, managing stormwater and flood risks, and improving transit.
“We cannot fund all of these improvements ourselves,” Cowell said. “We desperately need our federal and state partners.”
Cowell gave a shout-out to the 6,000 people who work for the City of Raleigh, calling them the city’s “boots on the ground.” At that moment, bizarrely, a group of city employees wearing cowboy hats and waving fans materialized for a choreographed “Boots on the Ground” dance break. Cowell joined in, line dancing alongside the city manager and the rest of the council.
Wake County
Back to business. Evans reported that Wake County is growing by 66 people per day (or, more than 24,000 per year). That poses significant challenges for housing, education, and the provision of emergency services.
“A lot of folks think, ‘Oh, you’ve got all these folks moving in. You’re going to get new property taxes, that should cover everything. Everything’s good,’” Evans said. “And let me just tell you, it doesn’t come close to covering the increased demand for services.”
She added that Wake County spends more than $700 million out of its $2 billion budget on the school district’s operating expenses—a figure that is rising annually in a way that is “not sustainable.”
“It’s only sustainable if we raise your property taxes every year, which most people are not that crazy about,” Evans said. “So I just want to say, we’re happy that we can be a partner of the Wake County Public Schools, but folks need to lobby the legislature to do better.”
Wake County’s school system currently receives the second-lowest amount of state funding per student of any county in North Carolina.
Wake County Public Schools
Heagarty gave the most pointed and urgent remarks of the day, calling on the state legislature to fund public education.
“I know people say, ‘You always complain we don’t get enough money for education, you’ve been telling us that for 10 years,’” Heagarty said. “Well, folks, we’ve been bailing the boat for 10 years, and now it’s time to sink or swim.
“If we want to maintain the high quality of schools in Wake County—and we’re doing it right now with duct tape and bailing wire—we need help. We need your leadership. We need your advocacy.”
This is Heagarty’s final year as school board chair (he is term-limited), making the luncheon one of his last opportunities to use his platform. He didn’t hold back, blasting past his allotted 20 minutes to give an impassioned speech about education and economic injustice.
Heagarty said Wake’s public schools are a snapshot of its current and future workforce, and they are struggling. The number of students who qualify for free and reduced lunches rose by 50 percent in the last decade, he said. Meanwhile, essential staff like bus drivers can’t afford to live in the county where they work.
“We cannot get by without firefighters, police officers, EMS workers, bailiffs, sanitation workers…teachers, bus drivers, instructional assistants, cafeteria workers, custodial staff,” Heagarty said. “We are in a crisis.”
Chloe Courtney Bohl is a Report for America corps member. Follow her on Bluesky or reach her at [email protected]. Comment on this story at [email protected].