Final Adopted Budget FY23-24

Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council:

I am pleased to provide you with a copy of the 2023-24 Annual Budget and 2024-25 Projected Budget. This document was prepared by the City's Budget and Evaluation Department and represents a comprehensive publication of the City's budget plans and policies for the upcoming fiscal year. The document also includes a second year planning budget that gives us the opportunity to continue planning for and implementing the strategies necessary to meet the future needs of our community. I presented the recommended FY 2023-24 budget to Council on May 16, 2023 and both hard copy and electronic versions were available for public review. The Council held several budget work sessions and a public hearing on the proposed budget before adoption. City Council adopted the 2023-24 annual net budget, totaling $751,341,324, on June 20, 2023. The adopted FY 23-24 Budget is 9% higher than the revised FY 22-23 budget. The overall property tax rate of 67.25 cents is four cents higher than the previous year. The adopted budget addresses multiple Council priorities and organizational financial needs. This budget continues to put the staff and support resources in place to continue moving forward together. The budget includes compensation adjustments for all benefited employees and adds critical staffing in priority program areas. The budget includes additional programming, personnel, and resources in our key priority areas of housing support, public safety, and economic development. Funding for debt service related to the remaining $36 million from the 2016 bond referendum and the $135 million in approved 2022 bonds will support Public Safety, Parks and Recreation, Housing, Transportation and Community Development projects. The 2023-24 and 2024-25 budget columns in this document, as well as the narrative, reflect the budget as adopted by Council with changes made during the Council deliberations. The Manager's Message, however, is included as it was presented with the Recommended Budget. Council deliberations at budget work sessions and meetings led to the inclusion of several important changes from the budget recommendation. Public Safety compensation was identified as a priority and approximately $7.5 million is included in the budget to support retention and recruitment through increased salaries based on market data. A major reorganization in the police department shifting sworn positions to professional positions and the elimination of 30 patrol positions are included to support these compensation enhancements. All employees will be eligible to receive salary increases through 4% steps and 4% average merits. Additionally, the minimum wage for benefit eligible employees will be increased to $18 per hour, totaling more than $1.8 million for salary and compression adjustments. As Greensboro continues to show strong growth in development and economic projects, development services will be enhanced with additional staffing in all departments involved. Services will also be centralized in one location. These improvements will be supported through increased development services fees that provide improved cost recovery. Additional expenses for solid waste services, including contracted disposal, will also be supported with increased fees to improve cost recovery. Housing programs and transit funding is provided dedicated support through property tax revenues.