Holly Springs (NC) Proposed $139.2 Million Budget Pushes Major Infrastructure Expansion as Growth Slows
Town leaders are proposing major road, utility, and recreation investments even as residential permitting activity begins slowing after years of rapid growth
Holly Springs, NC, May 13, 2026 — Even as residential growth in Holly Springs begins showing signs of slowing after years of expansion, the town is preparing to spend more heavily than ever on roads, utilities, parks, and public infrastructure.
Town Manager Randy Harrington’s proposed fiscal year 2026-27 (FY27) operating budget and community investment plan (document) totals $139.2 million, an 18.3% increase over the current year, driven largely by transportation projects, utility infrastructure expansion, recreation investments, and operational growth tied to a larger and more complex town government. The proposal keeps Holly Springs’ municipal property tax rate unchanged at 34.35 cents per $100 valuation, but residents would still see noticeable increases in monthly utility-related costs.
The recommended budget (document) arrives at a moment when Holly Springs is trying to manage two realities at once. The town continues to absorb the effects of years of rapid development, particularly traffic congestion and infrastructure strain, while new residential permitting activity has begun to slow considerably. Budget documents show that Holly Springs averaged roughly 600 single-family permits annually over the past decade, but permits dropped below 300 in 2025. At the same time, assessed property values are still projected to rise from $13.9 billion to $14.6 billion during the next fiscal year.
Quick Read Summary of Recommended FY27 Budget
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Town leaders repeatedly tied the proposal to results from the 2025 community survey, in which residents continued to rate Holly Springs highly overall while identifying traffic and growth management as the town’s biggest concerns.
“With over 95% of residents positively rating their quality of life, and 96% saying that they feel safe in town, that’s an incredible level of agreement on how residents feel about their overall local environment,” Harrington said. “But we know that there are also opportunities for improvement.”
Much of the budget’s largest spending is concentrated around transportation and mobility projects intended to address the town’s most persistent complaint. Construction is expected to begin during FY27 on the central phase of the Holly Springs Road widening project between Flint Point Lane and Main Street, extending the larger effort to build a four-lane divided corridor connecting NC 55 toward Interstate 540. Town documents describe the project as both a traffic-relief initiative and a multimodal safety project, incorporating side paths and pedestrian improvements.
The town is also continuing investment in its Intelligent Transportation System network, which includes traffic cameras, real-time monitoring tools, and traffic signal technology intended to improve emergency response movement through intersections. Holly Springs has already partnered with NCDOT on roughly $2 million in ITS infrastructure, though the system is still operated by the state. The proposed budget funds operational planning work intended to eventually transition control to the town itself.
The budget also continues expanding the Holly Springs Hopper microtransit service, which launched earlier this year and has already carried more than 3,200 riders. More than half of current passengers qualify for fare-free service because they are seniors or individuals with disabilities, and town officials said approximately 65% of operating costs are currently offset through grant funding. The town is considering expanded weekday service hours and possible Saturday operations later this year.
At the same time, Holly Springs is working to improve mobility and is preparing for some of the largest recreation and public facility expansions in its history.
How to share your thoughts on the budget with Council Members
The town council is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the proposed budget on May 19th at Town Hall (map), followed by an additional workshop on May 21st, before planned adoption on June 2nd. Information on how you can participate in the Public Hearing can be found by clicking here.
The proposed budget continues funding tied to Eagles Landing Park, the 56-acre recreation campus under construction on Cass Holt Road across from Holly Springs High School. The project includes a planned 100,000-square-foot recreation center with four indoor courts, pickleball courts, splash pads, turf fields, fitness areas, greenway connections, and an e-sports lounge. The budget adds seven new parks and recreation positions in anticipation of the facility’s opening in late 2027.
“I think it’s safe to say that Eagles Landing Park may be the most anticipated attraction to come in 2027,” Harrington said.
The budget also includes nearly $4 million in improvements at the North Main Athletic Complex, supported in part by approximately $1.8 million in Wake County hospitality tax funding. Planned work includes stadium turf replacement, parking lot resurfacing, scoreboard upgrades, and mechanical system improvements at the complex, which officials said receives nearly 750,000 annual visitors.
Meanwhile, the town’s new Operations Campus is expected to begin opening this summer, becoming Holly Springs’ first major non-public safety or recreation municipal facility developed in more than two decades. The campus will house Public Works, Utilities and Infrastructure, Parks and Recreation, and support staff from multiple departments, and will also serve as the future home of the town’s relocated yard-waste convenience center.
Additional funding is included for Cultural Center renovations through a partnership with Wake County, including roof replacement, HVAC upgrades, restroom renovations, and library modernization. The budget also funds Holly Springs’ upcoming 150th-anniversary celebration, which culminates in the planned “Holly-Hoopla” event in May 2027.
But some of the most financially significant projects in the budget are largely underground and mostly invisible to residents.
Harrington described the expansion of the Utley Creek Water Reclamation Facility and the regional Tri-River Water Filtration Facility partnership as “two of the largest infrastructure projects in the town’s history.” The Utley Creek expansion increases wastewater treatment capacity from six million gallons per day to eight million gallons per day using membrane bioreactor filtration technology, while the Tri-River partnership with Sanford and Fuquay-Varina is intended to strengthen Holly Springs’ long-term drinking water capacity and resiliency.
Town documents state that more than $500 million in utility investments are underway or planned over the next five years, helping to explain why utility-related fees are rising even without a town property tax increase. The proposal increases monthly water and wastewater costs for a typical residential customer by $11.89, bringing the estimated monthly bill for 4,000 gallons of usage to roughly $111.30.
Harrington attempted to frame the scale of municipal water service by comparing it to the cost of bottled water.
“To get the same amount of water, you’d have to purchase 30,240 standard-size water bottles,” Harrington said. “Those 15 pallets would cost you $5,040, and that doesn’t even include the shipping or the removal of any wastewater associated with that.”
The proposal also raises the monthly stormwater fee from $5.20 to $6.50 to help address approximately $2.5 million in identified stormwater repair and improvement needs, marking the first stormwater fee increase since 2021. Garbage and recycling charges would also increase by 69 cents per month due to contractor pass-through costs, while yard waste fees would remain unchanged. Combined, all proposed utility and sanitation increases would raise the average household monthly bill from $126.49 to $140.37, an increase of $13.88 per month.
The budget also expands town staffing, adding 19 new full-time positions, including a fire health and safety officer, an engineering project manager, a planner focused partly on housing affordability and long-range planning, a utility budget analyst, a pretreatment supervisor, and seven parks and recreation positions associated with Eagles Landing Park. The proposal also creates a chief of staff position to help coordinate strategic initiatives and organization-wide operations.
Additional funding is provided for design work for a future fire station on Rex Road, intended to serve rapidly growing neighborhoods in southwest Holly Springs, including areas around Bridgeberry, Avocet, Holly Pointe, and Braxton Village. Construction is currently anticipated to begin in 2028.
Taken together, the recommended budget reflects a town still preparing aggressively for future growth, even as development activity begins to moderate, with officials signaling that long-term infrastructure investment, transportation expansion, and utility capacity upgrades remain central priorities regardless of short-term permitting slowdowns.
How to share your thoughts on the budget with Council Members
The town council is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the proposed budget on May 19th at Town Hall (map), followed by an additional workshop on May 21st, before planned adoption on June 2nd. Information on how you can participate in the Public Hearing can be found by clicking here.