Funding the Main Street Program

When the City Council approved the Main Street program in 1982, the City funded the program 100% with general fund revenues. In 1984, the Council approved an 8-cent downtown special district property tax to help supplement program expenditures such as façade grants and landscaping. In 1994, the City Council increased the tax to 14 cents to help fund and implement the Downtown Master Plan. Fifty-one cities in North Carolina have established special tax districts with tax rates ranging from 2 cents to 64 cents. Morganton’s 14 cent rate falls in the middle of the pack; 14 other communities have special tax rates in the teens. In 2023, Morganton City Council voted a change in the MSD tax rate and is currently 12 cents.

Today, the Main Street budget averages more than $450,000 dollars. Those funds are spent on personnel, capital improvements, marketing, operations, public parking, and grants. The downtown special tax generates $114,000, roughly 25% of the Main Street program budget, and the remaining funds come from the City’s general fund revenues. The City puts in roughly $3 for every $1 generated by the downtown tax.