Selma Town Council Approves 70 Percent Property Tax Rate Increase

“It’s going to hurt a lot of people in this little town.”

SELMA – In a unanimous vote, the Selma town council approved the single largest property tax increase in recent memory.

Tuesday night, the council approved a $30,446.518 budget package, up 12.5 percent from the current fiscal year spending plan of $27,059,507. The General Fund for Fiscal Year 2025-2026 will be $10,759,064, a 16.4 percent increase.

The centerpiece of budget discussions was the property tax rate and how the Johnston County property revaluation, increasing average home values by 70.6 percent, impacted the spending plan.

The current Selma property tax rate is 60 cents per $100 assessed value. With higher property valuations, Selma’s revenue-neutral rate would have been 29 cents. Instead, the council kept the current tax rate of 60 cents unchanged.

Two people spoke with concerns during a public hearing.

Al Gaskill, an 89-year-old Selma resident, said the revaluation increased his property values like everyone else, yet Selma leaders were “unwilling to give back one cent” on the property tax rate.

“A lot of people can’t pay,” Mr. Gaskill said. “It’s going to hurt a lot of people in this little town.”

Sonny Howard said, “It’s not what you make but what you save, and what you save, invest it wisely. Times have changed. They are changing every day.”

Last year, a home valued at $100,000 in Selma, with a 60 cents tax rate, paid $600 in city taxes.

This year, with the average 70.6 percent increase in property valuations, that same home is now valued at $170,600. Keeping the tax rate unchanged at 60 cents, means that homeowners will now pay $1,023.60 in taxes, an increase of $423.60, equal to a 70.6 percent increase.

The new 2025-2026 fiscal year budget includes more than a dozen new full-time positions. They include 5 new patrol officers, the first increase in the number of patrol officers in Selma since 1995.

New Positions
The budget adds four new firefighters, two public facility and grounds positions, one custodian, one senior maintenance worker in public works, and one new code enforcement officer.

The budget eliminates the stipend for a deputy town manager and reallocates those funds to establish a new Assistance Finance Director position. The Community Engagement position was eliminated.

Selma Town Manager Alexis Carter, who has been on the job only five months said, “This budget is a major step toward Selma, NC reaching its potential. Our residents and stakeholders will see increased and improved safety operations in the Town of Selma with the addition of key personnel. There will be an increased Police presence throughout our community to enhance an already stellar department. The Fire Department, with the best response time in Johnston County, will become even more agile with an improved ability to handle overlapping calls. Public Services will be able to increase the rate at which we are repairing, upgrading, and maintaining our Town of Selma infrastructure. Dedicated Code Enforcement and Custodial Services will help encourage a first-class quality of life at the Crossroads of Tradition and Innovation.”

Mayor Byron McAllister released the following statement to The Johnston County Report. “The Town of Selma will see a property tax revenue increase of close to 70 percent overall with the 60 cents tax rate being unchanged for fiscal year 2026. That 70 percent includes tax revenue from new residential, commercial, and industrial businesses in the Town of Selma. We have seen an amazing amount of commercial and industrial growth recently in the Town of Selma while the size of our population is relatively unchanged.”

“This new reality requires our taxpayers, myself included, to make significant investments in our community to achieve and maintain a first-class quality of life. It is clear to me that the Town of Selma Council and our Town of Selma citizens want the best for our community. I am proud to say that in Selma, NC we are willing to invest in the best. The best public safety, the best public services, and the best experience is what we strive for in the Town of Selma. We are well on our way to making that goal a reality,” Mayor McAllister said.

In addition to the property tax hike, the budget includes a 16 percent increase in sewer rates. Ten percent of the increase will offset a wholesale rate increase from the County of Johnston.

A proposed one percent increase in electric rates was eliminated from the new budget at the June 10 meeting, keeping electric rates unchanged.

Town of Selma employees will see a five percent cost of living adjustment on July 1, 2025.