As the Town of Chapel Hill is faced with budget constraints, it is moving toward a priority-based budget system to guide the focuses of the Chapel Hill 2020 plan.
This multi-year process should balance the needs of UNC students with permanent Chapel Hill residents.
The plan’s theme is “A Place for Everyone,” and it aims to provide services that enhance the community as a whole.
Rather than giving a portion of the budget to departments to allocate themselves, priority budgeting aims to fund specific functions and services based on the value they provide.
But planners must be cognizant of the needs of both the younger student population and the older permanent residents that occupy Chapel Hill.
This is not to say that both groups’ desires are mutually exclusive. Transportation and housing are hot topics that affect the interests of both groups.
The final Chapel Hill 2020 plan should prioritize transportation to allow all town residents and UNC students to benefit from the environmental and economic impacts of an improved transit system.
Additionally, housing issues concern both budget-crunching college students and permanent residents.
By coming to a consensus that calms students’ fears of skyrocketing rent and residents’ desires for calm neighborhoods, the town could come closer to its goal for a diverse community.
