What is the Five-Year Budget Strategy?

The Town of Chapel Hill is known for delivering high-quality service to the community. Our bi-annual community survey consistently shows high levels of satisfaction with safety, recreation, and unique services such as our municipal library and local transit system. The Council requested an overview of known and anticipated needs to continue aligning resources with the Council’s strategic goals. The Five-Year Budget Strategy presents a high-level organizational review of our resources and what it will take to sustain our community’s success. This document is the first broad analysis of this type the Town has prepared, and we know it will be a base for ongoing work and discussion and it will evolve with time.

This strategy captures our plans, gathers information, and will help guide decisions. The details will change as conditions evolve, and not everything in this strategy can – or should – be addressed at once. Instead, the Town will make strategic decisions each year in the annual budget process.
As we work with the Council on this year’s budget, we will see how we are already addressing some of the priorities in this five-year strategy, such as climate action, affordable housing, maintenance, a pay study for human capital, and efforts to strengthen our tax base. The five-year strategy will be complemented by specific costs, analysis, and recommendations in the annual budget process.

This overview provides a high-level snapshot of our Town today.

As we reviewed our financial picture, it became clear that we’ve had slow but steady growth in our revenue sources, but it’s hasn’t been able to keep up with rising costs. As a result, we have prioritized service delivery over maintenance - for buildings, facilities, software, equipment, and infrastructure – over several years. The impact of those decisions is beginning to show. One easy-to-see result is the decline in our road system ratings. Other impacts are less visible to the casual observer, but we know we will soon face difficult choices about how to prioritize deferred-maintenance costs and whether we can continue to sustain certain programs.

There are bright spots on the horizon too. Our Town weathered a global pandemic with strategic budget cuts, strong management of federal funds, and a dedicated work force. As we come out of the pandemic, our location in a growing region is promising and our focus on growing our commercial tax base promises to strengthen future income. We have bond funding coming online to support affordable housing and other key projects, and our community remains strongly engaged. We are well positioned to make important choices about the future. Climate change, emerging technology, and shifting demographics will challenge us to rise to the occasion. We are confident that the Council and the Community will come together to decide how we take the next steps.

Although the five-year strategy contains some large numbers, it is not an invoice that has to be paid immediately. Instead, it is an important guide so we can make informed, strategic decisions about our future.

With so many strengths and this broad understanding of our organization, now is a good time to begin conversations about the next five years, and beyond.

For more in-depth information about the Five-Year Budget Strategy, here is a link to the document.

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