New Hanover County Considers a Debt Increase

School Board approves $320 million capital request for consideration by the County Commissioners next

WILMINGTON, NC, UNITED STATES, November 18, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- In New Hanover County (NHC) the current debt per person is about $1,670. This is more than twice the debt load in nearby Brunswick County, where the debt stands at $690 per person. It is also approaching the debt capacity limit of $2,200 per person set by the county back in 2013.

A big chunk of the County debt pays for recent school construction, both public schools and the costs of Cape Fear Community College (CFCC) buildings. The CFCC buildings alone over the past 10 years have cost over $100 million dollars and at one point WECT News reported that the State Treasurer raised questions about transparency in local government and the CFCC.

Another big capital project is Project Grace, accounting for $77 million in construction and related costs. This is on top of $20 million for other new library buildings in the county. And while these buildings may be a pleasure to visit, the books and experience are pretty much the same as when visiting the Carolina Beach branch operating out of a rented storefront.

New spending

With this history, the New Hanover County Commissioners met with the county school board on November 17 to discuss the capital spending needs of the county schools. They met in the recently completed $45 million NHC Government Center building.

Like many capital projects, the plans presented were exciting, urgent, and in some ways compelling.

Several school buildings desperately need repairs and are functionally obsolete. Overcrowding needs to be addressed. Traffic gridlock plagues some.

Everyone at the meeting understood the priority to keep children safe and nurture their fullest potential. But not everyone attending the meeting thought it went well.

Bob Drach, attending as a representative of the Cape Fear Libertarian Party observed: "The plan as presented is a political gambit. Prior school bonds were approved in 2005 and 2014. This plan asks for a $320 million bond commitment to fund projects over the next 8 to 10 years.

"The thinking seems to be to ask for it all now, locking in the spending for the next decade, regardless of what future changes or improvements may bear out."

Find the full proposed plan here: https://simbli.eboardsolutions.com/Meetings/Attachment.aspx?S=36030934&AID=453380&MID=17662

Bob continued: "The plan locks up capital commitments for a decade, but only funds phase 1 of a 4 phase project to refurbish New Hanover High School. Phases 2, 3, and 4 could be pushed out a decade unless another source of funding is found."

Bob also pointed out some bond funding goes to expenses you might expect in an operating budget. The plan includes $10 million for replacement of all tablets and computers over the next 5 years. This is equipment with an approximate 5-year service life.

Some of these concerns came out in the discussion, but there was also concern that the backlog of school capital projects was the result of prior inaction. Commissioner Dane Scalise spoke about the need to take action, a sentiment echoed by others, including Chair Bill Rivenbark.

A better way?

Drach explained that to avoid the mistakes of past capital spending, the county should take smaller bites. "This would take action on the urgent items and keep flexibility for the future."

He gives the example of the costly Convention Center project. "That still needs to be propped up with a 6% room occupancy tax, which makes Wilmington a little bit less friendly to all visitors, most of whom never use the Convention Center."

When asked what he would do to match the school capital proposal to the available debt capacity, Bob says: "I would focus on a shorter time frame of 3 to 5 years and authorize just the following:

• $ 60 MM New Hanover High School Phase I
• $ 60 MM Pine Valley or River Lights Elementary
• $ 10 MM Porter's Neck Elementary improvements
• $ 20 MM School HVAC refurbishment
• $ 5 MM Safety and Security improvements
• $ 5 MM Management and Contingency

"The other projects can be reprioritized in 3 to 5 years as debt capacity becomes available again. Otherwise, we will just continue lurching down this path of crowding out better future projects because our leaders failed to make more measured decisions today."

Next steps

While the Board of Education voted to advance their plan on October 8th, the County Commissioners will study the plan further and conduct public reviews next year. Final approval must come from the voters in the form of a ballot measure in November 2026.

Rob Yates
Libertarian Party of North Carolina (lpnc.org)
+1 803-250-1075
email us here

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