2024 Annual Comprehensive Report

year. In all, expenses increased $97.4 million or 14.5% citywide with increases of approximately $38.3 million affecting business-type activity. Increased expenditures in the proprietary funds were primarily due to increased personnel and promotional costs in the coliseum department and an increase in operational expenses in the water and sewer departments including an approximate $8 million settlement and fees related to litigation associated with the utility’s capacity use fees.  As of the close of the current fiscal year, the City’s governmental funds reported combined ending fund balances of $314.8 million, a net decrease of approximately $8.3 million in comparison with the prior year fund balance. Approximately 60.2% of this total amount or $189.5 million is restricted or non-spendable and 39.8% or $125.3 million is Committed, Assigned or Unassigned, including $9.5 million appropriated for next year’s budget. Additional expenditures for capital improvements (bond funded) occurred, along with increased use of occupancy taxes this year.  At the end of the current fiscal year, the total fund balance for the General Fund specifically was $123.6 million. Approximately 44.8% or $55.4 million of this balance is restricted for accounts receivable and encumbrances and $8.4 million is assigned for appropriation next year. It is also the City’s policy to hold aside 9% of the subsequent year’s General Fund budget as “unassigned” to remain available for working capital, but it may also be appropriated for emergencies. This amounted to $38.0 million as of June 30, 2024. Amounts remaining that are either non-spendable, committed or assigned for other purposes totaled approximately $30.2 million.  Charges for services at the fund level, for the City’s largest enterprise activity, the Water Resources Fund, comprising water and sewer operations increased $13.1 million or 9.5% in FY 2024. Rates on water increased 10.25% and wastewater increased 7.25%, or an 8.5% increase on average for customers both inside and outside the city limits effective July 1, 2023. The cost of the City’s water supply purchased from three neighboring municipalities was approximately $3.2 million in both FY 2023 and FY 2024, and is budgeted at $3.9 million in FY 2025 for purchases from Reidsville, Winston-Salem, Burlington and Randolph County. These interlocal arrangements will continue to be in place to keep the water lines “fresh” and to ensure additional supply in emergency or drought conditions. Water purchases totaling $3.0 million were paid to the PTRWA in Fiscal Year 2024 and are budgeted at $2.9 million in FY 2025. The City began receiving water from the PTRWA in October 2010, culminating a 20-year project that will ensure the City’s long-term water supply. This project is being funded by a group of local government units and will supplement Greensboro’s water supply needs for the long term. Current year contributions of $983,868 were made to the Piedmont Triad Regional Water Authority (“PTRWA”) for certain ongoing administration and operations associated with the Randleman Dam, which is fully operational. The City’s total water rights in the Randleman Dam project, recorded as an Intangible Asset, are approximately $70.6 million, net of $25.1 million in amortization, as of June 30, 2024. Amortization of the water rights is calculated over a 50 year period. At June 30, 2024, Revenue Bond debt service coverage was 2.2 times, meeting the targeted goal.  Certain deficit fund balances were reported in the Workforce Investment Act ($317,956), State, Federal and Other Grants Fund ($8,128,312), State and Federal (ARRA) ($125,832), and General Capital Improvements Series 2024 ($4,116,000), respectively, as of the end of the fiscal year. The grant-related project fund deficits are from current expenses that were incurred at the end of the fiscal year but reimbursement had not yet been received from the federal and state granting agencies. These project fund deficits will be eliminated with the future reimbursements of federal and state grants. The bond fund deficit will be addressed with future bond issuances in August 2024.  The General Fund budget for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024 was adopted with a $.6275 per $100 assessed valuation property tax rate compared to $.5875 per $100 in the prior year. The total

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