WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) – The City of Wilmington began Monday the long process of setting its budget for the next year.
One of the main issues going forward will be the decreasing property values in the city due to the latest round of property revaluations. Of all the areas in New Hanover County, Wilmington saw the smallest loss in value at around 8 percent.
The city will begin discussing what tax rate to set for the upcoming year. If the city does not raise taxes to account for the drop in property value they will be looking at an estimated $4 million deficit.
City Council will also have to come up with a way to pay for expiring grants, including 13 Wilmington Police Officer grants that are set to expire at the end of 2012.
One positive sign was from sales tax receipt numbers. Wilmington saw an increase of nearly 15 percent in the amount of money collected between July and November as they did the year before.
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