Top Stories for Jan. 15, 2025
Mecklenburg County provides this weekly rundown of top stories from the Board of County Commissioners meetings and the Public Information Department’s newsroom. The Board met on Jan. 13 and 14. The agendas are available online and the meetings can be viewed on MeckTV. The Board’s next regular meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 22 at 6 p.m.
1. A Focus on Education: The Board of County Commissioners and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education met jointly on Jan. 13 for a preview of the FY2025-2026 budget process, which will include decisions about school funding. Presentations included:
- An overview of Mecklenburg County services and a “choice matrix” that illustrates the choices available in funding services.
- Mecklenburg County revenue projections.
- CMS data on growth, performance, graduation, and student achievement for school year 2023-2024.
- Pre-K programs, including Bright Beginnings, Head Start, MECK Pre-K, and NC Pre-K.
- Progress update on the 2017 and 2023 school bonds.
- MECKSuccess, a community-based program aimed at fostering economic mobility, educational excellence, and personal and professional development for residents.
View the agenda and presentations.
2. Equity in Action: The Board heard an update on the County’s Equity Action Plan. The plan guides departments in making equity decisions and aligning with County goals and strategies. An analysis through FY2024 identified actions across six goal areas that help the County pursue equity in its programs and services. The goal areas are infrastructure and tools, workforce equity, inclusive engagement, health equity, economic opportunity, and criminal justice. Of 62 equity actions, the report found that 82% are complete, 45% are complete and ongoing, 10% are in progress, and 8% have yet to be started.
3. Share Your View. Shape Our Future. As the Board crafts next year’s budget, residents can speak out on the programs and services that are most important to them. The first public hearing will be held at the Board’s regular meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 22 at 6 p.m. Residents can sign up to speak or submit comments via mail or email. Following the public hearing, the Board will hold its annual budget retreat Jan. 29-31. Sign up to speak at the hearing or learn more about the budget process at Budget.MeckNC.gov.
4. Priorities in the North: Mecklenburg County residents are invited to share their priorities for northern Mecklenburg County during a listening session hosted by District One Commissioner Elaine Powell. The event will be held Jan. 23 at 6 p.m. at Northern Regional Recreation Center in Cornelius. In addition to sharing their priorities, north Mecklenburg stakeholders will receive service updates from the Department of Park and Recreation and MEDIC. Residents are asked to sign up no later than Jan. 20.
5. State of Housing: The number of people experiencing homelessness in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community has increased, according to the 2024 State of Housing Instability and Homelessness Report. As of June 2024, there were 2,784 people experiencing homelessness, a 3% increase in one year. That includes an increase in the number of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness. The annual report combines local, regional, and national data to help leaders make informed decisions about resources and systems of care. The report covers aspects such as cost-burden, evictions, Point-in-Time Count, housing inventory, rental gaps, Housing Trust Fund, and system performance metrics. New this year is information on substandard housing and the first ever Detention Center Point-in-Time Count.
6. Honoring MLK Jr.: Mecklenburg County offices and services will be closed on Monday, Jan. 20, for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Park and Recreation will celebrate his life and work with a program on Friday, Jan. 17 and the annual MLK Jr. Day parade will take place on Saturday, Jan. 18 in uptown Charlotte.