State budget includes state employee pay raises

The state budget approved by the North Carolina General Assembly includes pay raises for state employees for the next two years and funding for UNC-Chapel Hill programs and capital projects.

Under the proposed budget, most state employees would receive a 4% salary increase for fiscal year 2023-24 and a 3% raise for fiscal year 2024-25. Additional details on the salary increases are not yet available.

The proposed budget also includes funding for renovation projects at Kenan-Flagler Business School and the UNC School of Nursing and funding to expand the School of Data Science and Society.

“We are grateful for the N.C. General Assembly’s continued support for higher education and appreciate the opportunities afforded by this budget. UNC-Chapel Hill is passionately public and our recent No. 4 public university ranking by U.S. News & World Report could not be possible without the long-standing support of our state legislature,” said Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz. “This budget invests in our infrastructure, provides new opportunities for our students to learn and conduct research, includes funds for raises and retention for our world-class faculty and staff, and helps our students graduate and give back to our state and our society.”

Key items related to UNC-Chapel Hill in the budget include:

• Salary adjustments for nursing faculty. Starting salaries for nursing faculty will increase by 10% and other faculty at the School of Nursing may receive pay raises of up to 15%. These increases are in addition to the across-the-board salary increases state employees will receive.
• Funding to expand UNC-Chapel Hill’s computer science programs to include applications in data science. The program will receive $7.5 million in recurring funding and a $2.5 million one-time allocation for startup funding for fiscal year 2023-24.
• Funding to establish the School of Civic Life and Leadership. The bill provides $2 million in fiscal year’s 2023-24 and 2024-25 to support the school’s development and the initial faculty and staff hiring.
• Funding for capital projects including:
  • $20 million in fiscal year 2023-24 and $30.5 million in fiscal year 2024-25 for the McColl Building addition and renovation at Kenan-Flagler Business School. With this funding, the General Assembly has allocated $194.25 million to expand and enhance the Kenan-Flagler campus.
  • More than $15.7 million in fiscal year 2024-25 for the Carrington Hall renovation at the UNC School of Nursing. With this funding, the General Assembly has allocated $87.9 million for the project.
  • $25 million for renovation of Gardner Hall.
• Funding for the North Carolina Collaboratory for projects related to water safety, next-generation energy, opioid remediation, artificial intelligence and digital engineering. Total appropriations to the NC Collaboratory over the biennium is $220.5 million, which includes $140 million allocated to NCInnovation that will flow through the NC Collaboratory.
• A one-time $2.5 million cut to the UNC School of Government for fiscal year 2023-2024.