On Tuesday, Feb. 2, the Chapel Hill Youth Council (CHYC) held a small, casual forum with a handful of the recently elected Town Council members. For an hour and a half, I sat in a circle of 20 attendees, directing questions to three individuals: Theodore Nollert and Melissa McCullough, first-year council members, and Amy Ryan, a veteran council member serving as Mayor Pro Tem. Despite the casual setting and youthful audience, each council member expressed a strong passion for Chapel Hill’s future and left me with several valuable insights.
Our discussion began on the subject of the town’s budget, specifically, the areas that the Town Council was planning to bolster through increased funding. Although they said that the council had not yet come to a final consensus, they touched on a broad range of subjects, including sustainable development, environmental stewardship, parks and recreation, and educational initiatives. However, when I asked about potential areas for cuts, all three council members exchanged glances before Amy Ryan responded,
“In all of my time here, I don’t believe we’ve ever had to make budget cuts,” she said. “You have to understand, Chapel Hill is very wealthy.”
They explained that property tax rates are determined by assessed property values, and because of Chapel Hill’s continually rising housing costs, the town has consistently seen an increase in property taxes. According to Redfin, our town has experienced a 27.5 percent year-over-year rise in the median sale price of its single-family homes over the past five years, which bodes well for the town’s budget.
Another thing I learned was that the taxes paid by Chapel Hill’s residents are the result of separate rates set by each of NC’s three levels of government. For example, the final property tax rate is determined by a combination of the municipal property tax rate, county property tax rate, and state property tax rate. Further, the county and state are both of higher precedence than the town, as they have a larger burden of responsibilities. Because the town primarily focuses on local management activities it, commands a smaller share of taxes.
“Some people get mad when they see that their taxes are higher than the previous year, but that often isn’t because of [the Town Council],” McCullough said.
Nollert echoed this sentiment: “There’s nothing we can do about county or state tax hikes, but that’s not worth explaining to most people. All they see is a bigger number,” he said. “We always field a number of angry emails when taxes increase.”
Beyond taxes, a significant portion of our discussion revolved around ongoing debates concerning the most effective approach to development. McCullough was particularly passionate about the subject, being the former director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Sustainable and Healthy Communities Research Program. Expressing strong opposition to sprawl-based development, she advocated for creating additional affordable housing options, building upward rather than outward to encourage density, and reducing the necessity for long commutes.
“I’m an empty nester. I don’t need a big, single-family home anymore, but it’s hard to find other options like townhomes, condos, or co-ops in Chapel Hill unless they’re full of college students,” McCullough said.
She also shared a desire for walkability, likening the construction of additional roads to alleviate traffic congestion to “using a band-aid for a bullet hole,” and emphasizing that the largest cause of pollution was fossil fuel emissions from automobiles.
Both Nollert and Ryan shared McCullough’s general philosophy, and Ryan said that the biggest opponent to science-based sustainable development was the Chapel Hill Alliance for a Livable Town, or CHALT. She also mentioned that only one out of the five candidates they put on the ballot was elected.
The topic shifted when a member of the CHYC inquired about the day-to-day responsibilities of council members, revealing a multitude of engagements beyond their standard meeting schedule. These included attending conferences, participating in professional development, conducting constituent outreach, and more. Despite this, Nollert said that their positions were considered part-time, so council members receive only a modest annual salary of $25,000. To me, this illustrated that those who serve on the town council do so out of genuine care for our town and community—my biggest takeaway from the evening.
