My question is the following: with record property values, you’d assume that this would mean higher taxes collected. With that logic, as property values go up, why can’t tax rates go down? If the excuse is that Apex is growing, then why can’t growth be managed so that it is tax revenue neutral for residents. Otherwise, more growth just means the people already living here will have a harder time affording it. Eventually many may not be able to even afford to live here. Property value increases themselves are all unrealized gains that people can’t utilize (in responsible means) to increase their income. So I don’t understand how a town can create what are often very punishing and difficult to manage tax increases when new assessments are made. To be fair to current home owners, we need to move away from tying tax rates to new assessments and instead look at states like Florida which protect home owners with property exemptions. No one should have to sell because their taxes on their home have become unaffordable.
Would you explain why Apex is required to provide the SROs? Other high schools are staffed by Wake County Sheriff's Office. I'm also interested in the Board chosing not to fund the 13 requested police officers - would you elaborate some on that?
IANAL but I think state law is that high schools have to have SROs, and the municipality actually prefers to provide them. I think the only high school with sheriffs are either in the county (outside a muni jurisdiction) or in a town that literally can’t fund them
Last year APD got all the love in new positions; this year it’s fire. With a new police chief I think he should have the opportunity to reorganize APD how he sees fit and then make a more informed staffing request next year, which I am confident will be looked favorably on. This request is a more legacy request from an old staffing plan.
that being said; Apex spends nearly 40 cents of the tax dollar on public safety. This is much higher than most other towns. There is always need for more but we do pretty well.
The environmental programs in Apex would benefit from further development. While the budget includes allocations for projects such as greenway connections and EV infrastructure, these investments look incremental and not part of a comprehensive, long-term environmental strategy. The absence of a dedicated line item for environmental programs or sustainability initiatives tells me that environmental considerations are not properly integrated into the town's planning. This lack of dedicated funding will hinder the implementation of more ambitious environmental goals and the scaling of successful pilot projects, of which there are many with false starts. The current budgeting process does not appear to systematically integrate environmental objectives across departments. Without a structured approach to climate budgeting, it is difficult to assess how well individual projects align with the town's sustainability goals. They are add-ons, ad hoc, without any transparency or accountability to validate success. This lack of integration results in missed opportunities for cost savings, like energy efficiency improvements, and could delay the town’s progress toward its environmental targets. There is a lot of talk about renewables, such as the solar program, but it never really got off the ground-just recommendations. This is evident to anyone who watches the environmental board meetings. Finally, the budget does not indicate significant investments in experienced professionals specifically focused on developing and implementing environmental programs, including the stakeholder engagement needed to make an difference. Without dedicated, experienced personnel in areas such as renewable energy and waste management, the town will struggle to effectively implement and manage environmental initiatives. This gap is going to lead to delays in project execution, challenges in meeting sustainability targets, and difficulties in engaging the community in environmental efforts. Even if the residents do not have the information to make informed choices, the town should bear the responsibility of developing sustainability programs that include engagement programs and measurable impacts. You know better, especially Gantt and Terry.
All for the hiring of the SROs and firemen. The water bills we pay are extremely high compared to Cary's, water, sewer and storm water is almost double from what I used to pay in Cary.
I think you're misremembering? Our water rates are lower than Cary's by around 12% across the board, for example, their 0-5000 gallon rate was 5.25/1k gallons, ours was 4.60. Our sewer rates appear to be even better? They charge 11.24/1k, we charge $8.06
We share a water system, btw, so I wouldn't expect the costs to ever diverge that much. The fact that our sewer costs are so much lower is interesting in that we share a waste water treatment plant
Has the Town ever considered a plan that would reward employees for finding ways to reduce costs? Sort of like value-engineering that would provide a cash award as an incentive. Just a thought.
Sharing this information is commendable and thanks. For the proposed staffing positions, 1) what are Operating & Capital Costs for employees? 2) What is the is the percentage of direct annual salary to the Total Costs for each proposed position? 3) GLP-1 drug should not be included in insurance coverage for employees, unless there is a limited time of coverage, because it is not a cure but an on-going expense. Most people regain a significant portion of the weight they lost within a year after discontinuing the medication. 4) Identifying 9 worthy position out of a total 28 positions seems somewhat disingenuous. The IT manager (especially after the computer system hack) is needed, as well as the firefighters and SROs; however, the other 19 positions seem to be unnecessary bloat of Apex staff.
I think cutting off GLP-1 entirely is a little harsh, as there are employees using it today and it has real benefits (the state, I believe, is cutting off GLP-1). But cost increases here are problematic. Employees feel this too when they have family coverage, they are covering 40% of the premium - which isn’t cheap. That, too, is going up 16% or so
I think this is something we’ll have to look closely at in future years, and look at best practices in other places. One idea was making GLP-1 for weight loss available, but only at the end of a more comprehensive weight loss program the employee would have to go through.
This is fantastic information. I had been feeling like I never knew what was happening with town govt but this has really changed that. One area to investigate services is GoApex. A prior candidate for town office mentioned that as never being used. I've been eye balling the shuttles ever since... and have never seen someone on them. I think it's great to have services for handicapped or elderly who can't drive, but it might be cheaper to buy them an Uber pass of some kind. BTW, agree with the notion of having town elections match up to state/federal elections to save money.
GoApex previously was covered entirely by grant funding with no budget impact to us. This year I think it’s a 200k line item if I recall correctly (still lots of grants, but not 100% coverage any longer)
Building a mass transit system has to be part of a comprehensive approach to address traffic issues
All of the “degrowth” push in Apex has consequences. It will only get harder and harder. I suspect growth has leveled off and won’t continue to drop much more below where it is today, and we might even see a bump later this decade Veridea starts to build out.
My question is the following: with record property values, you’d assume that this would mean higher taxes collected. With that logic, as property values go up, why can’t tax rates go down? If the excuse is that Apex is growing, then why can’t growth be managed so that it is tax revenue neutral for residents. Otherwise, more growth just means the people already living here will have a harder time affording it. Eventually many may not be able to even afford to live here. Property value increases themselves are all unrealized gains that people can’t utilize (in responsible means) to increase their income. So I don’t understand how a town can create what are often very punishing and difficult to manage tax increases when new assessments are made. To be fair to current home owners, we need to move away from tying tax rates to new assessments and instead look at states like Florida which protect home owners with property exemptions. No one should have to sell because their taxes on their home have become unaffordable.
Tax rates do go down as property values go up
Thanks for sharing this, Terry.
Would you explain why Apex is required to provide the SROs? Other high schools are staffed by Wake County Sheriff's Office. I'm also interested in the Board chosing not to fund the 13 requested police officers - would you elaborate some on that?
Thanks for what you do and this informative post.
IANAL but I think state law is that high schools have to have SROs, and the municipality actually prefers to provide them. I think the only high school with sheriffs are either in the county (outside a muni jurisdiction) or in a town that literally can’t fund them
Last year APD got all the love in new positions; this year it’s fire. With a new police chief I think he should have the opportunity to reorganize APD how he sees fit and then make a more informed staffing request next year, which I am confident will be looked favorably on. This request is a more legacy request from an old staffing plan.
that being said; Apex spends nearly 40 cents of the tax dollar on public safety. This is much higher than most other towns. There is always need for more but we do pretty well.
The environmental programs in Apex would benefit from further development. While the budget includes allocations for projects such as greenway connections and EV infrastructure, these investments look incremental and not part of a comprehensive, long-term environmental strategy. The absence of a dedicated line item for environmental programs or sustainability initiatives tells me that environmental considerations are not properly integrated into the town's planning. This lack of dedicated funding will hinder the implementation of more ambitious environmental goals and the scaling of successful pilot projects, of which there are many with false starts. The current budgeting process does not appear to systematically integrate environmental objectives across departments. Without a structured approach to climate budgeting, it is difficult to assess how well individual projects align with the town's sustainability goals. They are add-ons, ad hoc, without any transparency or accountability to validate success. This lack of integration results in missed opportunities for cost savings, like energy efficiency improvements, and could delay the town’s progress toward its environmental targets. There is a lot of talk about renewables, such as the solar program, but it never really got off the ground-just recommendations. This is evident to anyone who watches the environmental board meetings. Finally, the budget does not indicate significant investments in experienced professionals specifically focused on developing and implementing environmental programs, including the stakeholder engagement needed to make an difference. Without dedicated, experienced personnel in areas such as renewable energy and waste management, the town will struggle to effectively implement and manage environmental initiatives. This gap is going to lead to delays in project execution, challenges in meeting sustainability targets, and difficulties in engaging the community in environmental efforts. Even if the residents do not have the information to make informed choices, the town should bear the responsibility of developing sustainability programs that include engagement programs and measurable impacts. You know better, especially Gantt and Terry.
All for the hiring of the SROs and firemen. The water bills we pay are extremely high compared to Cary's, water, sewer and storm water is almost double from what I used to pay in Cary.
I think you're misremembering? Our water rates are lower than Cary's by around 12% across the board, for example, their 0-5000 gallon rate was 5.25/1k gallons, ours was 4.60. Our sewer rates appear to be even better? They charge 11.24/1k, we charge $8.06
We share a water system, btw, so I wouldn't expect the costs to ever diverge that much. The fact that our sewer costs are so much lower is interesting in that we share a waste water treatment plant
Has the Town ever considered a plan that would reward employees for finding ways to reduce costs? Sort of like value-engineering that would provide a cash award as an incentive. Just a thought.
Not that I’m aware of.
Sharing this information is commendable and thanks. For the proposed staffing positions, 1) what are Operating & Capital Costs for employees? 2) What is the is the percentage of direct annual salary to the Total Costs for each proposed position? 3) GLP-1 drug should not be included in insurance coverage for employees, unless there is a limited time of coverage, because it is not a cure but an on-going expense. Most people regain a significant portion of the weight they lost within a year after discontinuing the medication. 4) Identifying 9 worthy position out of a total 28 positions seems somewhat disingenuous. The IT manager (especially after the computer system hack) is needed, as well as the firefighters and SROs; however, the other 19 positions seem to be unnecessary bloat of Apex staff.
I think cutting off GLP-1 entirely is a little harsh, as there are employees using it today and it has real benefits (the state, I believe, is cutting off GLP-1). But cost increases here are problematic. Employees feel this too when they have family coverage, they are covering 40% of the premium - which isn’t cheap. That, too, is going up 16% or so
I think this is something we’ll have to look closely at in future years, and look at best practices in other places. One idea was making GLP-1 for weight loss available, but only at the end of a more comprehensive weight loss program the employee would have to go through.
This is fantastic information. I had been feeling like I never knew what was happening with town govt but this has really changed that. One area to investigate services is GoApex. A prior candidate for town office mentioned that as never being used. I've been eye balling the shuttles ever since... and have never seen someone on them. I think it's great to have services for handicapped or elderly who can't drive, but it might be cheaper to buy them an Uber pass of some kind. BTW, agree with the notion of having town elections match up to state/federal elections to save money.
GoApex previously was covered entirely by grant funding with no budget impact to us. This year I think it’s a 200k line item if I recall correctly (still lots of grants, but not 100% coverage any longer)
Building a mass transit system has to be part of a comprehensive approach to address traffic issues
Wow, thank you for this great information. As I was reading this, I was thinking, "But what about growth?" ... and you answered that! And more!
All of the “degrowth” push in Apex has consequences. It will only get harder and harder. I suspect growth has leveled off and won’t continue to drop much more below where it is today, and we might even see a bump later this decade Veridea starts to build out.