Mebane city manager city manager Richard J. White, III outlined his preliminary budget for the upcoming fiscal 2026-27 fiscal year – and a recommendation to increase the municipal tax rate by 2 cents, from 37 to 39 cents per $100 valuation – for the city council during a special meeting and budget work session last Thursday afternoon.
White said he had included in his preliminary budget the $6 million to construct the city’s fourth fire station and $1.5 million to purchase land for a southside park. He had not included an additional $1.4 million to purchase a second property for a northside park that the council also opted to approve last week (see related story, this edition).
The manager had previously penciled in $6 million to build the city’s fourth fire station at the entrance to the North Carolina Commerce Park off Trollingwood-Hawfields Road, across from the site of the future Buc-ee’s travel plaza, for which interchange improvements along I-85/40 began last year.
Mebane’s main fire station, at 405 North First Street, houses the fire marshal’s office and training division. The original fire department at 103 West Washington Street is unmanned (volunteer-only). Mebane fire chief John Wellons is based at the city’s newest fire substation, at 1469 Mebane Oaks Road, which also houses the department’s fire and life safety education program.
[Story continues below charts on the proposed budget.]
White’s preliminary budget projects that nine new employees will be needed for the fourth fire station – including three lieutenants, three engineers, and three Firefighter III positions – as well as two new positions within the utility fund in the 2027-28 budget.
The fire station has been a high priority for the city council, and city manager White had penciled in the $6 million expenditure into his preliminary budget that he outlined to council members Thursday afternoon.
The city manager’s preliminary budget includes an approximate increase of $9.5 million (25.5 percent) in the general fund budget, from $37.3 million originally budgeted for the general fund this fiscal year to $46.8 million for the 2026-27 fiscal year that begins July 1.
The budget that Mebane’s city council adopted for the current 2025-26 fiscal year included no increase in the municipal tax rate.
The manager’s preliminary capital budget (for equipment, replacement of patrol vehicles, and other big-ticket expenses) totals $9.9 million for the police, fire, information technology, sanitation, public works, and recreation and parks departments, as well as security enhancements and HVAC unit replacements at the library and city hall.
The council will likely hear an in-depth presentation on the manager’s proposed budget at its next meeting on May 4.
State law requires municipal budgets to be adopted by June 30, in order to go into effect by July 1 of each year.
