The Wake County Board of Commissioners passed its $2.1 billion budget for fiscal year 2026 last night following a monthslong process that involved a good deal of hand-wringing and compromise. The final total includes a last-minute $5 million increase to the appropriation for Wake County Public Schools (WCPSS), prompted by weeks of advocacy and public pressure.
The county’s allocation to WCPSS will increase by $40 million next year, but will still fall short of the school system’s stated need by about $20 million. In May, county manager David Ellis proposed a $35 million increase for WCPSS, but the county commissioners decided last night to give the system the full $40 million boost it requested. In the intervening month, Wake teachers, students, parents, and the school board had stressed the need for the county to contribute as much as it could.
According to board chair Susan Evans, Ellis and his staff budgeted with the intention of keeping property tax increases as low as possible this year. “We know people are struggling,” Evans said. The budget math was complicated further by high inflation and a looming recession, according to Ellis’s budget message.
That means very few new programs or major investments in this budget beyond core services, like education and emergency response.
Wake County taxpayers will see a slight property tax increase of 0.36 cents in the upcoming fiscal year, bringing the county tax rate to $0.5171 per $100 property valuation. For households valued at the median $450,000, that translates to an annual tax bill of about $2,300, not including municipal taxes.
Of the tax increase, 0.25 cents will generate revenue for the library bond voters approved last November and 0.11 cents will go to WCPSS.
In addition to funding Wake County Public Schools to the tune of $1.2 billion in capital and operating costs, the budget includes $258 million for public safety, $133.8 million for Wake Tech, and $7.7 million for libraries. The county is also setting aside money to build a new animal shelter and increase staff pay by 1 to 3.5 percent.
The county will spend $742.9 million on operating costs for WCPSS in the coming fiscal year, a figure the commissioners said would be lower if the state paid its fair share.
“We are in this challenging position because the majority in our state legislature continues to under-fund their constitutional responsibility to our public schools’ operating expenses,” said commissioner Cheryl Stallings.
County manager Ellis proposed—and the commissioners approved—the elimination of 12 Wake County Emergency Medical Services positions and a $1 million annual reduction to the county’s Housing Opportunity Fund, a new loan fund the county is launching over the next five years.
Monday’s vote was 6-1 with only commissioner Shinica Thomas voting in opposition.
“This is not a vote against Wake County Public Schools. This is a vote for responsible planning, for fairness and for sustainability,” Thomas said by way of explanation for her “no” vote. “I support public education. I also support emergency response and affordable housing. This shouldn’t be an either-or decision. I won’t break housing and public safety to fix schools. That’s not leadership, it’s triage.”
Thomas wasn’t the only commissioner with misgivings about the budget. Several of her colleagues also said they felt they’d been handed a nearly impossible choice between supporting public education and the county’s other programs.
“This has been a tough budget, second only to the budget we had to do at the beginning of COVID,” commissioner Vicki Adamson said. “Cutting housing and EMS is painful.”
Adamson added that if the county ends up with more revenue than anticipated, she and her colleagues will ask that it be put towards restoring the EMS positions and housing program that were cut.
Evans got the last word before the budget vote, and she said that her time as a WCPSS board member (from 2011 to 2016) gives her a “unique perspective” on the county’s responsibility to public schools.
Evans emphasized that the Housing Opportunity Fund isn’t going to disappear: “We’re not cutting any existing programs when it comes to housing,” she said. “This was a new initiative, it’s still going to be a new initiative. We’re just cutting back in scope a little bit on how we kick it off.”
She added that Wake County expects to fill those 12 EMS positions in fiscal year 2027.
“I acknowledge that other members of the board had their reasons for not going to support this amendment, and their viewpoints are completely valid and respected. However, I am completely comfortable with the choice that I have made,” she said.
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].