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Board of Commissioners Work Session and Budget Workshop

Town of Hillsborough · Board of Commissioners
Wednesday, May 27, 2026 at 7:00 pm

Work session Data centers and large loadsBudget and appropriationsBroadband and technologyCivil rights and nondiscriminationFaith and cultural communitiesFees and utility ratesLGBTQ+ policyParks and recreationPolice and public safetyTax rate and revaluation

Agenda document Full packet Minutes Meeting page Watch Meeting recap

What's on this agenda

Hillsborough's board holds a public hearing and then decides whether to impose a 60-day development moratorium on data centers as a land use -- an ordinance that would temporarily block new development approvals for data centers, cryptocurrency mining operations, and any use tied to data center processing facilities in town. The board also gets a briefing on a SecureNC partnership with the state Department of Information Technology, which is likely related to the same data-center policy question, and holds its second FY2027 budget workshop.

On the consent agenda: miscellaneous budget amendments and transfers, a Pride Month proclamation, and a Gun Violence Awareness Day proclamation.

Summarized from the published agenda. Read the agenda itself before acting on it.

Meeting recap

What happened, drawn from the records published after the meeting. Minutes

Commissioners adopted a 60-day moratorium on new data center approvals, 4-0, after a public hearing drew no speakers. The ordinance, covering data centers, cryptocurrency mining and related processing facilities, runs from May 28 to July 27 while planning staff study zoning standards for the use, which the town's Unified Development Ordinance does not currently define. Planning and Economic Development Manager Shannan Campbell told the board the pause would allow time to develop that language.

The board also authorized the town manager to sign a SecureNC memorandum of understanding with the state Department of Information Technology, giving the town free access to the Tanium cybersecurity platform, and approved a consent agenda covering budget amendments and transfers, a Pride Month proclamation and a Gun Violence Awareness Day proclamation. In its second FY2027 budget workshop, the board reached consensus on higher Gold Park shelter and athletic field rental fees, a $21,000 allocation to Orange County Congregations in Mission, cutting Orange County Arts Alliance funding to $0, and a recommended 2-cent property tax rate increase to 53.3 cents. None of that was a final vote; the board is set to consider budget adoption on June 8.

How the votes went

Agenda approved 4-0. Motion to open the data center public hearing, 4-0; motion to close it, 4-0, after no members of the public spoke. The moratorium ordinance (item 5.A) was adopted 4-0. The consent agenda (item 4, covering budget amendments and both proclamations) passed 4-0. The SecureNC memorandum of understanding (item 5.B) was authorized 4-0. Motion to adjourn, 4-0. One commissioner, Evelyn Lloyd, was absent for the whole meeting.

From the published minutes.

Who spoke

No members of the public spoke.

Read from the records the government published after the meeting. Members of the public are private residents and are not named or indexed.

Speaking at this meeting

Town of Hillsborough's own rules for public comment — check them before you rely on anything here.

Agenda items (11)

Procedural · 3Consent agenda · 3Public hearing · 1Ordinance · 1Discussion item · 1Budget action · 1Staff or committee report · 1
  1. 1 Opening of the work session
    Procedural
  2. 2 Agenda changes and approval
    Procedural
  3. 3.A Public Hearing to Receive Public Comment on Adoption of an Ordinance Imposing a 60-day Development Moratoria on Data Centers as a Land Use
    Public hearing Data centers and large loads
    A public hearing on a proposed ordinance that would temporarily halt new development approvals for data centers as a land use in Hillsborough for 60 days.
  1. 5.A Ordinance Imposing a Temporary Moratoria on Development Approvals for Data Centers, Cryptocurrency Mining Operations, and Any Use Associated with Data Center Processing Facilities within the Town of Hillsborough
    Ordinance Data centers and large loads
    In-depth discussion of the proposed 60-day moratorium ordinance covering data centers, cryptocurrency mining, and related processing facilities, following the earlier public hearing on the same item.
  2. 5.B SecureNC Partnership with the North Carolina Department of Information Technology
    Discussion item Broadband and technologyData centers and large loads
    A discussion of a SecureNC partnership with the state Department of Information Technology, presented alongside the town's data center moratorium discussion.
  3. 5.C Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Workshop #2
    Budget action Budget and appropriationsFaith and cultural communitiesFees and utility ratesParks and recreationTax rate and revaluation
    In the FY2027 budget's second workshop, the board reached consensus on raising Gold Park picnic shelter and athletic field rental fees, increasing Orange County Congregations in Mission funding to $21,000, reducing Orange County Arts Alliance funding to $0, and recommending a 2-cent property tax rate increase to 53.3 cents. Budget adoption is scheduled for June 8.
  4. 6 Committee updates and reports
    Staff or committee report
  5. 7 Adjournment
    Procedural

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