2022 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report

referendum included $15 million for transportation, $14 million for firefighting facilities, $6 million for Police facilities, $30 million to continue implementation of the Housing GSO plan, and $70 million for parks and recreation projects. Increased annexations, continuous growth, and service costs put pressure on our water and sewer capacity, as well as our solid waste services. The FY 2022-23 budget includes a water and sewer rate increase of 4.5% for customers both inside and outside the city limits, an increase to the monthly solid waste fees from $2.50 to $3.50 and an increase to household hazardous waste monthly fees from $0.60 to $0.97. These modest rate increases are essential for the City to continue to provide services to customers at expected levels and to provide for system growth. Even with these increases, the City maintains the second lowest water rates and the lowest solid waste service fees compared with peers. The FY 2022-23 budget includes the creation of a Public Transit Department. The Greensboro Transit Agency (GTA) provides a vital transportation service that is a key component of our efforts to support economic development and opportunity. The service continues to evolve and improve to meet the financial challenges of providing this service, including introducing a new fleet of electric buses, the first for any North Carolina municipality, and continued efforts to implement the Mobility Greensboro 2040 plan. These efforts, combined with continued expansions to trails, greenways, and other alternates to transportation are essential to meeting the Council adopted goal of increasing the number of people that can reach their place of employment without the use of their personal vehicle by 20% by 2023. Providing safe and available parking is a primary city strategy and contribution for downtown development. The Eugene Street Deck opened in June 2021 providing 948 additional spaces for the north Eugene Street area. A second new deck is under construction in the downtown area. Financial support for the long term debt service costs associated with these new assets will require approximately $3.6 million in General Fund contributions to the Parking Fund beginning in FY 2022-23.

• Customer Service, Diverse Workforce, and Fiscal Management – The City’s focus on customer service, a diverse workforce and fiscal stewardship, transparency and accountability ensures the City has the right people doing the right job. The budget continues a variety of employee development initiatives, including MentorMe (employee-to-employee mentoring program), Toastmasters, and development programs, such as Leadership Edge and Leadership Prime, designed for employees wishing to pursue supervisory roles in the

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