LELAND — Leland has officially locked in its financial roadmap for the coming year, approving a $50-million budget with a notable reduction in the property tax rate.
In a 4-1 vote April 16, the town council adopted the fiscal year 2026-2027 budget. The plan decreases the property tax rate from 27 to 25 cents per $100 of valuation — a 7.4% decrease — while funding 10 new full-time positions and employee pay increases, emergency services, and capital improvement projects.
READ MORE: 7% tax-rate decrease proposed in Leland’s $50M budget
According to town staff, the 2-cent tax-rate reduction was driven by a jump in Leland’s total property valuation. Though not a revaluation year — a 2027 countywide property revaluation takes effect Jan. 1, 2027 — new properties are always coming online and have to be accounted for. Thus, total taxable property values increased to approximately $7.2 billion, up from $6.74 billion in the current fiscal year. Because of the growth, the town can collect nearly the same amount of revenue even with a lower rate.
Leland is projecting a $1.2-million increase in sales tax revenue, rising from roughly $8.2 million last year to an estimated $9.4 million. Finance staff said the growth reflects continued population increases and expanded retail activity across town.
Further increases include $1.15 million for employee compensation, consisting of a 1.5% merit increase and flat $2,600 market-rate adjustments per employee. The budget funds 10 full-time positions including two police officers for the traffic division, three firefighters and one fire captain, along with additional municipal support roles across public safety and operations.
A total of $3.1 million is earmarked for the capital improvement plan, which funds infrastructure and facility needs. There will be $2.5 million to support the town’s long-term commitment to resurface 5% of its roadways annually over a 20-year period. Additional projects include $250,000 for pedestrian-focused work like adding sidewalks and crosswalks.
The budget is reduced by $3 million from last fiscal year, with cuts including 34% to information technology costs by bringing device management services — like police and fire mobile data terminals — in-house. The town’s emergency contingency fund, used to cover unexpected expenses such as disaster response costs, saw a 50% reduction from $1.4 million in the current cycle to $750,000.
Additional savings came from a $235,000 decrease in debt service payments, as the town officially paid off the Leland Cultural Arts Center and an older fire truck, though debt tied to two fire trucks purchased in last year remains outstanding.
Despite the tax cut the budget provides residents, newly elected Councilman Frank Pendleton cast the lone dissenting vote. Pendleton told staff the budget was sound, but contended the town failed to provide enough “line-item justification” for specific departmental expenses, such as spending on supplies and travel.
“I think that the finance team and the staff did a very nice job of putting this together,” Pendleton said during the meeting. “I think that they failed, in many cases, to provide a justification for the line items.”
During public comment, resident Kathy Short echoed similar concerns, suggesting the finance department provide clearer rationale for each budgeted expenditure to improve transparency and efficiency in the public review of the document.
Short surmised with modern digital tools it should be “quite simple” to add a column in spreadsheets and justify each spend.
“Providing justifications for budgeted line items would save valuable time for everyone involved,” Short said. “Citizens with concerns about the budget would quickly understand the reasoning behind the budgeted expenditures.”
Town Finance Director Carly Hagg previously stated during this year’s budget workshops the town already provides “abundant” online financial information beyond standard requirements. She said requiring written justifications for every minor expense, such as office supplies, would add significant administrative burden during preparation of the lengthy budget. Hagg suggested any resident with questions about a specific budgetary item ask finance staff directly and they would provide it.
The new budget goes into effect on July 1.
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