When Morrisville Mayor TJ Cawley called an end to the town’s first public budget discussion of the year at 10:02 p.m. on April 9, council members appeared exhausted. Not just by the long meeting, but by the prospect of solving the myriad of problems they were presented with in the upcoming year’s budget.
This is a “tough budget year,” council members said repeatedly during the four-hour discussion. The town is short just over $1 million, the gap between its annual revenues and the expenses proposed for this year. Council members will have to come up with more money or decide what to cut. Here are six takeaways from Morrisville’s preliminary budget discussions.
1. Town Council Members Are Reluctant to Make Cuts
Town Manager Brandon Zuidema’s initial budget proposal included hiring a new police detective, patrol officer, school resource officer, and three new firefighters, to meet the national standard of four firefighters per truck. It also included ongoing benefits for town employees, including cost of living raises and merit pay.
But Zuidema acknowledges not all of this can make the cut. The town already plans to dip into its savings to cover the rising cost of employee health insurance and retiree benefits.
He presented the council with a few different options for balancing the budget at the April 9 meeting, including one that put new fire and police department positions, cost of living adjustments for town employees, and the purchase of new cars and IT equipment on the chopping block. These items, though important, are less urgent than the town’s other needs, according to Zuidema.
Council members had mixed opinions on the proposed cuts, but several were clear that cutting the budget for public safety or staff pay is unacceptable to them.
“I think you need to go back and start over again, quite frankly,” council member Liz Johnson told Zuidema and staff. “I’ve heard, over time, council talk about how public safety is important … [And] I want to make sure we take care of current staff before we bring on any new staff.”
Council member Satish Garimella agreed, saying “We are not listening to the people. Time and again we have talked about it, that public safety comes on top, taking care of our people, and transportation … I’m asking if there are any other options on the table.”
This early in the budget process, the answer is uncertain. Mayor Pro Tem Anne Robotti proposed a few solutions, including dipping more heavily into reserve funding to cover costs for this year. There’s also the possibility the town council could raise taxes.
2. The Council is Divided on Property Taxes
The town could raise nearly all of the $1 million it needs by raising the property tax rate by one cent: from 35 to 36¢ per $100 of property value. But after Wake County’s 2024 revaluation, which saw tax bills skyrocket, that’s likely to be an unpopular move.
Council members Vicki Scroggins-Johnson and Liz Johnson each said they were strongly opposed to a tax hike, given that residents have already had to deal with the revaluation. At one single-family home in the Ridgemont neighborhood, for example, Morrisville property taxes jumped from around $1,600 in 2023 to $2,200 in 2024, a roughly 32% increase.
“There was such a significant impact to our community on the last 2024 tax increase that I fear that we cannot, at least I cannot in good conscience, recommend a raise on property taxes,” said Scroggins-Johnson.
Cawley and Robotti, on the other hand, argued it was better to increase taxes a little each year than a lot in future years—especially with Wake County moving to a two-year revaluation cycle, which will make annual revenues much more unpredictable, said Robotti.
“I know this is gonna make me wildly unpopular, but I think we have to start capturing incremental capacity in the off-years,” said Robotti. “Half a cent a year is better than 20% at the time of a [revaluation].”
Cawley agreed, saying “Just before the last property tax adjustment, there were people coming up to me [saying], ‘If you had just done it one penny a year for a couple years, we would have been happy.’ So I take that to heart. I’d like to start doing that now.”
3. After Revaluations, the Town is Facing “Unprecedented” Property Value Appeals
One of the reasons Morrisville is struggling to balance the FY 2027 budget is because of a spike in property value appeals, with many more commercial property owners protesting the assessed value of their properties. Before 2024, the town typically saw about $300-400 million appealed in revaluation years, according to Chief Financial Officer Byron Hayes.
“These past two years, we saw $1.5 billion worth of appeals,” he added—$600-800 million each year. “Those are numbers that are unprecedented in this process.”
While these appeals are ongoing, the property owner may choose to defer paying their bill, creating a delay in the town’s collection of money; which creates a major problem for council members when it comes to the budget.
4. The New Town Green Is Expected to Open in Late 2027
With construction underway on the first phase of Morrisville Town Center—a “pedestrian-friendly hub” anchoring downtown—the town is preparing to hire new staff and buy new equipment to get it up and running.
Zuidema said he expects the first Town Center facilities, including the new town green, to open in the summer or fall of 2027. Phase one includes an outdoor stage, public restroom, and cottage small retail buildings, along with a mixed-use building and a parking deck surrounding the Morrisville Community Library.
The town expects to collect more revenue in future years as a result of the project, along with other economic development projects that are underway, including two major new life sciences campuses near RTP.
5. The Fee for Pickleball Courts Is Set to Change
Also part of Thursday’s budget presentation was a tentative plan to change fees for use of the pickleball and tennis courts at Morrisville Aquatics & Fitness Center (MAFC), along with the batting cages at Church Street Park. Changes to athletic clinic fees and shelter rental fees are also on the horizon.
Zuidema didn’t get into details of the proposed changes at the meeting Thursday, and later wrote in an email that “these specifics will be shared with council at an upcoming meeting and are not yet available to the public.” Town staff plan to share more information and reach out to the public for feedback in late April and May.
In the past, fee changes have been made in response to shifting market rates or town costs.
“Fee adjustments are proposed on an annual basis related to ongoing evaluation of regional market fees and the Town’s cost recovery philosophy,” said Zuidema.
MAFC tennis and pickleball courts are currently free for members, $25 per hour for residents, and $37 per hour for nonresidents.
6. The Town Could Save At Least $60,000 If It Stopped Mowing Grass
The purchase of new electric mowers was also a brief topic of conversation at the April 9 meeting. These would replace old or broken gas mowers. Although the EV mowers are more expensive than gas-powered replacements, they could prove more cost-effective in the long run given the current price of gas, council members speculated.
In a half-joking aside, council member Harrison Kesling suggested the town simply stop mowing lawns, allowing natural growth to take over—which could also help make the town more flood resilient. Native plants and grasses can help absorb water, slow runoff, and prevent soil erosion.
“Grass is a monoculture that provides little to no ecological value,” Kesling said. “We should have less lawns, basically.”
It was an innovative idea, but it turns out the town’s mowers are mostly used to maintain athletic fields—which are not only important to residents, but are also regularly in use, according to Zuidema.
Give Your Feedback
With so much work left to do on the budget, another work session is likely to be scheduled for April. Staff are also continuing to gather public input on the budget through an online survey, which can be found on the town’s website.
Here’s the rest of the budget timeline:
- April 28: Recommended Budget & CIP Presentation to Council
- May 12: Recommended Budget Public Hearing
- May 26: Proposed Adoption of the FY2027 Recommended Budget
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