Fiscal Year 2025- 2026 Recommended Budget

Highlights Of the $150 million in General Obligation bonds authorized by voter approval in 2016 and 2022 the City has $24.7 million of those dollars planned to be spent in FY 25-26. Most recently, in 2022 voters passed a bond referendum of $135 million. Projects include $70 million for Parks & Recreation, $22 million for affordable housing, $10.5 million for transportation, $11.5 for fire facilities, and $5.9 million for police facilities. The bond dollars included in the CIP account for 4.2% of the total capital needs in the City of Greensboro. Debt service costs associated with the debt issuance to fund authorized bond projects is scheduled at $36 million in FY 25-26. The CIP includes several funding sources other than General Obligation bonds. About $1.1 billion, or 64%, of CIP funding over the next ten years is expected to come from Water Resources revenue bonds. The CIP also includes approximately $464 million of Unauthorized Bond funded projects, which is a decrease of $51 million from last fiscal year. Many of the projects that had in previous years cited their revenue as “Unauthorized Bonds” now have funding through the 2022 General Obligation Bonds. These bond funds are used for projects which replace aging infrastructure, facilities, major equipment, targeted programs to support affordable housing efforts, replacement of aging fire stations, new facilities based on future demand and growth, and other capital needs identified by departments for planning purposes. Total unauthorized bond projects reflect the identification of the next generation of capital needs across that the City will need to address in the coming fiscal years. Over the next ten years, the City will continue its efforts to fund a significant portion of Water Resources projects using Pay-As-You-Go funding using revenues collected from user fees by the enterprise fund. Water Resources plans to raise water and sewer user rates by 9.6% each year for the next five fiscal years to account for various rising costs of which infrastructure is one. Included in the CIP are approximately $680 million worth of projects funded through enterprise funds, allowing the department to save on interest expenses and maintain a strong position with bond rating agencies. The City continues to seek grant funding to provide additional support for CIP projects as opportunities allow. Total grant funding in the CIP equates to approximately $244 million. Grants include any funding received from the State or Federal Government that often require a local match from the City. During the 10-year planning period, Grants are projected to be available to support a variety of Transportation projects, including sidewalk construction, road projects, and transit improvements. Finally, this CIP includes almost $140 million categorized as Other Revenue. Limited obligation bonds are a major source of Other Revenue in the CIP. Current Limited Obligation Bonds are supporting Coliseum improvements Metro Communications equipment and firefighting facilities.

Recommended FY 25-26 Budget

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