With Every Service Comes a Bill

Daily Update - May 7, 2026

Listen

Like and Subscribe

Summary

Wilmington’s city leaders are floating a 14.3% property tax hike, promising everything from “living wage” city jobs to more money for Wave Transit. In this Daily Update, I walk through what that really means for families and small businesses in our area. We talk about how much government you actually want in your life, and who should be responsible for essential services like trash, libraries, and public safety. And we draw a clear line between a conservative approach that shrinks government and trusts private citizens, and a liberal approach that grows bureaucracy and hands you the bill.

What you’ll learn / Key moments

00:00 – Why “every service comes with a bill” and why this tax hike matters now
00:09 – The proposed 14.3% Wilmington property tax increase and where the money would go
00:25 – Why government should provide services, not try to be the region’s “employer of choice”
01:03 – The real tradeoff: full‑menu government services versus what taxpayers can afford
01:25 – Conservative vs. liberal visions of government, and a warning for Republicans who stayed home

What You Can Do

If you’re tired of being treated like an endless ATM for bigger government, now is the time to pay attention and speak up. Learn what this 14.3% tax hike would mean for your family, ask your city council members where they stand, and support leaders who want leaner government and stronger private‑sector jobs. And this November, do not sit out local elections again—show up, vote your values, and remind Wilmington’s politicians that taxpayers are watching.

With every service comes a bill.

This is the Wilmington Standard Daily Update for Thursday, April 7 2026

Port City Daily is reporting the City of Wilmington will consider a 14.3 percent increase in property taxes in the next few months. The tax would be used for anything from implementing living wage standards for city employees to covering the costs of Wave Transit.

We have previously commented on the ridiculousness of a city trying to make its pay structure the gold standard for all employers in the area. Government exists – in part – to provide services – not employ people and certainly not to be an “employer of choice.”

But the larger question is one that we need to wrestle with – how many services do you want our government to provide? Do you want trash service? Do you want libraries? Do you want green spaces? Do you want the highest quality of teachers and staff? Do you want the latest technology for our police and fire departments?

If so – if you want the full menu – with government taking care of all of it - then you need to be willing to pay for it. None of the people who are working for the city of Wilmington – or New Hanover County for that matter – do it for free. No one goes into government services thinking they will get rich in the end, however they do have their families to support and we do need to pay them.

If we do not like these tax increases – and we shouldn’t – then we need to either go without some of these services and provide them ourselves – or look to private industry who can provide them more efficiently and at a better cost. That is the difference between a conservative approach to government and a liberal one. Conservatives continually want to reduce the size of government, create jobs in the private sector that are the gold standard, and rely on our private organizations and private citizens to pick up the slack. Liberals want government doing it all – and they demand you pay for it.

Republicans did not get this message when they failed to show up at the polls last year in our municipal races. Lets hope that come this November they have learned their lesson.

For the Wilmington Standard, I’m Reuel Sample. Thanks for listening.

Reuel Sample is the Editor-in-Chief of The Wilmington Standard. A graduate of Grove City College and Princeton Theological Seminary, he has served as both a Presbyterian Pastor and a Navy Chaplain. He is the product of a classical liberal arts education combined with real world experience in politics and business and conservative Christian worldview firmly rooted in the Reformed tradition. He is the host of several podcasts including the NHC GOP Podcast, the Pastor's Voice, and co-hosts the Nikki and Reuel Podcast Experience. An avid sailor, he has sailed around the world as a youth and to the Azores as a teen as well as extensive trips up and down the east coast of the United States. He is honored to be married to his wife Pam and makes his home in Wilmington, NC.