City Council Unanimously Adopts FY 2026 Budget

As Chair of Charlotte's Budget Committee, I am pleased to report that your City Council has approved Charlotte's Fiscal Year 2026 Budget and 2026-2030 Capital Investment Plan. The new Fiscal Year begins July 1, 2025. Thanks to the many citizens and organizations who provided suggestions and feedback to help make our city's financial plan one we can all be proud of – and with no property tax increase! 

Highlights of the FY 2026 Budget:

• Structurally balanced with a two-year lens that: 
  • Does not increase property taxes.
  • Preserves core services.
  • Maintains operating reserves.
• Maintains lowest North Carolina tax rate amongst largest cities in FY 2026. 
• Begins a four-year plan to improve Solid Waste Services’ cost recovery to 50% for residential curbside collections by splitting the Solid Fee into two fees, residential curbside and residential dumpster.
• Establishes the Office of Youth Opportunities to promote economic opportunity and positive youth development for ages 13-24.
• Creates a $1.5 million Small Business Readiness Fund to build small business capacity in targeted industries, especially those related to mobility investments.

• Advances City Council Strategic Priorities: 

  • Continues the city’s commitment to violence reduction through investments in the Alternatives to Violence program along Beatties Ford Road and provides funding for the expansion of Atrium Health’s hospital-based violence intervention program, Project BOOST. 
  • Continues to advance Strategic Energy Action Plan (SEAP) goals with $2.5 million of funding to support the installation of sustainable infrastructure at city-owned facilities and funding for 45 electric vehicles to advance emissions reductions in the city’s fleet and 155 hybrid vehicles in addition to electric buses at the airport.
  • Funds $30 million over the next four years for a satellite Animal Care and Control adoption facility that remains in the Advanced Planning and Design Program.
  • Leverages more than $1.8 million in funding to support urgent home repair, affordable housing placement and high-quality naturally occurring affordable housing.
  • Invests $1 million to start a community benefits fund to help advance the greatest needs identified in the 14 Community Area Plans.
  • Funds 27 non-profit organizations for a total of $3.8 million to extend the city’s capacity to address strategic priorities and concerns of the community.
  • Continues the Education to Employment (E2E) Program which provides eligible graduating seniors from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools the opportunity to apply for various entry-level city jobs.
  • Continues construction of new infill and replacement firehouses, and adds a Commercial Burn Building to the Advanced Planning and Design Program to support on-going training for Charlotte firefighters. 

• Continues to Invest in our Employees:

  • Raises minimum pay of non-temporary-40 hour-a-week city employees to $24 per hour.
  • Funds a 4% pay increase for general hourly employees (1.5% in September and a 2.5% merit pool in November).
  • Provides a 3% merit pool for salaried employees. 
  • Provides a 6.5% pay increase to most Sworn (including existing pay plan steps) for eligible Police and Fire employees who are not at the top pay step; Police and Fire employees who are at the top pay step receive a 1.5% market adjustment and a 1.5% one-time bonus (for a total of 3%).
  • Continues pre-paid tuition assistance and career coaching with Central Piedmont Community College.
  • Allocates $1.5 million over the next three years to continue employee assistance programs that support employees experiencing hardships.

• Emphasizes Efficient City Operations:
  • Elevates Charlotte Business INClusion and the General Services’ Procurement Division into the new Contracting and Procurement Department to optimize cohesion and the expertise within these core services. 
  • Establishes a new Organizational Improvement Team that will identify opportunities to streamline operations, improve service delivery and improve customer satisfaction beginning with the new Contracting and Procurement Department, as well as the CLT Development Center. 
  • Realigns Animal Care and Control services from Police to the General Services Department to allow Animal Care and Control to more directly benefit from the administrative, operations and non-sworn field services components within General Services. 

To learn more about these and other important initiatives of the FY 2026 budget, please visit the Strategy & Budget page.