Carrboro Waiting On FEMA Reimbursement

GOVERNMENT

CARRBORO – It’s been more than half a year since Tropical Storm Chantal hammered Carrboro, but the town is still waiting on federal disaster relief.

“It’s hard to get concrete feedback from the federal government,” Town Manager Patrice Toney said at the Feb. 10 Town Council meeting. As the town moves to replace the public works facility and multiple vehicles destroyed in Chantal, “we want to feel confident we will receive some of those public-assistance dollars.”

Toney said disaster-relief funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will help fill the gap left by the town’s insurance reimbursements coming in less than anticipated. The Trump administration approved $32 million in FEMA aid for North Carolina last September. However, the administration was widely criticized last year for a slower-than-usual response to disaster-relief requests from state and local governments.

Toney said town staff are currently seeking locations to house a new public works building.

Midway through the fiscal year

The Feb. 10 meeting was a workshop to update the council on budget planning for Fiscal Year 2027, which starts on July 1. Deputy Finance Director Darrell Keyes said that in fiscal years 2021-24, revenue exceeded expenses. In 2025, the opposite happened, with $33.2 million in expenditures topping $30.7 million in revenue. FY 2026 currently looks to finish with revenues again higher than expenses.

For FY 2026 to date, property taxes have generated $21.3 million in revenue, 72 percent of the town’s income. By the end of the fiscal year, the estimate is $22 million. Keyes’ presentation projects that property taxes will remain the largest source of income in 2027, with no increase in the tax rate. Year-to-date sales tax revenues — $2.5 million — have increased 4 percent from last year, which Keyes said was unexpected.

The presentation’s estimate of year-end expenses projects that Carrboro will end FY 2026 with $19.6 million spent on town hall personnel, $10.9 million on operations, and $1.5 million on debt service.

Priorities for next year

The presentation lists seven budget priorities for the coming year:

Recovering from Chantal.
Livable wage implementation.
Phases 3 and 4 of Bolin Creek.
Carrboro’s affordable housing strategy.
Weaver Street.
Sustainability and Race Equity Initiatives.
Year 2 funding for the city’s 2025-2030 capital improvement plan (CIP).

The list of CIP projects includes the $15 million Town Hall renovation; $8.4 million for Century Center renovations; $2.2 million for fire apparatus, and $1.2 million for a fire truck engine replacement. The city anticipates spending $7.4 million of that in FY 2027.

Toney said the town is being cautious and moving slowly with spending to ensure it breaks even at year-end. The unexpected increase in sales tax revenues gives them some flexibility.

Fraser Sherman has worked for newspapers, including the Destin Log, the Pensacola News-Journal and the Raleigh Public Record. Born in England, he’d still live in Florida if he hadn’t met the perfect woman and moved to Durham to marry her. He’s the author of several film reference books and has published one novel and several short story collections. This reporter can be reached at: Information@TheLocalReporter.press