May 23. By Dave Vieser. While most residents were paying attention to the proposed Cornelius town budget and the impact it could have on ttaxes, Mecklenburg County Manager Dena Diorio slipped through the back door with a proposed $1.7 billion budget which would include a 3/4 cent tax rate hike. If adopted, the county budget would cost an additional $20-$25 annually for Cornelius taxpayers, with almost all of the added funds going to Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools (CMS).

The owners of a $250,000 house would pay about $22 more per year in county property taxes.

County taxes represent about 75 percent of the annual property bill for Cornelius property owners. The County Commissioners will hold a public hearing on the proposed budget June 4 in Charlotte, which ironically is the same evening Cornelius commissioners are expected to continue a public hearing and possibly adopt their town’s tax freeze 2019-2020 spending plan.

The additional taxes in the county budget would generate about $25 million, with the funds to be applied to added school and cyber security, guidance counselors, and social workers. There would also be modest increases in funding to the county health department, and the CMS Pre-K Program. This would be the first county tax rate increase in five years.

If the county tax increase budget is adopted, the actual hit in dollars and cents could be much more since revaluation of all county property is expected to hike assessed values by at least 15 percent to as much as 20 percent by the end of this year.