Update on Budget Recommendations to Town of Chapel Hill

Shift CHC shared this message with Chapel Hill town council members and the Mayor on June 9, 2026:

Thank you for considering Shift’s April 8 recommendation to increase the annual Capital Improvements Fund budget allocation to Infrastructure. The Shift Board of Directors has been encouraged by expressions of strong support from a large majority of Council members for significantly increasing the Town’s investment in bike and pedestrian infrastructure.

I’m writing principally to express Shift’s support for two ideas raised by the Town Manager. The first idea is to allocate the FY2026 excess fund balance, estimated to exceed $1 million, to greenways. This decision would be taken in fall 2026, when the excess fund balance amount has been confirmed and the Council is back from its summer recess. Given the apparent lack of available funds in the regular budget to implement Shift’s original recommendation, repurposing excess fund balance to greenways is a sensible way of advancing our shared objective.

The second idea is to develop in-house capacity for greenway building within the Public Works Department. We agree that this is likely to help the Town deliver bike/ped infrastructure more efficiently, from both a cost and timing perspective. Given limits on insourced project size imposed by NC law (capped at $500,000 total cost or $200,000 labor cost), this approach will supplement and not replace the Town’s reliance on contractors to design and construct major greenway segments, but it is well worth pursuing.

While Shift applauds these two ideas, we recognize the one-time nature of excess fund balance allocations and remain concerned about the lack of a credible longer term funding plan for the Everywhere-to-Everywhere Greenways network. We worry it may be impossible for the Town to develop such a plan without undertaking serious efforts to adjust spending and revenue patterns inherited from the past. Going forward, we believe there is an opportunity to align the budget, the next bond referendum, and the Town’s revenue strategies with its E2E Greenways and Vision Zero priorities. We urge you to continue working toward this alignment.

Thank you for continuing to support, and finding ways to swiftly deliver, a community where everyone can safely and conveniently walk and bike.

Respectfully,

Jon Mitchell

President, Shift Chapel Hill-Carrboro