CITIZENS’ GUIDE TO THE FY2015-16 BUDGET
CITY OF GREENVILLE | GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA
GREENVILLE
has received countless accolades over the past few years, and continues to attract national attention on a near monthly basis. Based on Greenville’s increasing acclaim, it appears that the rest of the country has finally discovered what those who live and work here have always known – that Greenville’s aptitude for fostering publicprivate partnerships, combined with an abundance of quality of life amenities, make it one of the most desirable places to live and do business in the United States. Greenville boasts one of the top housing markets in the nation, an annual cost of living that is 95% of the national average and AAA bond ratings from Standard and Poor’s and Fitch Ratings. The City of Greenville is recognized as one of the Southeast’s most progressive local governments, and its excellent financial condition is due in large part to its fiscally conservative policies and practices.
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AT A GLANCE The City’s fiscal year begins on July 1 and ends on June 30. The budget for all funds for the FY2015-16 is $168,407,751. This is an overall budgetary increase of 7.7% from last year. There is no increase to the millage rate, which remains at 89.4 mills. The General Fund budget is $76,254,750, which is an increase of 2.2% from last year’s budget. The General Fund is the major fund that accounts for the day-to-day operations of the City.
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© MIKE BERGEN
The Capital Improvement Program (CIP), which totals $58,652,305 over four years, includes $19,351,392 for FY2015-16. The CIP is a planning tool that is used to identify needed capital projects and select the appropriate financing and timing for those projects. The types of projects budgeted in the CIP generally include: • Acquisition of land • Construction of a new facility or expansion of an existing facility • A non-recurring rehabilitation or a major repair to all or part of a building or its grounds (having a cost exceeding $100,000 and a useful life exceeding 10 years) • Planning, design or engineering related to a capital improvement or other program The CIP is prepared each year based on priorities identified at the annual City Council planning retreat and input from various City departments. The first year of the plan is included in the coming year’s capital budget. The subsequent years of the plan are planning years and subject to future annual appropriation by City Council.
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GENERAL FUND BALANCE An unassigned fund balance is an important measure of financial stability. A healthy fund balance allows the City to ensure the continued provision of services and stable tax rate, lower its borrowing costs through achieving high credit ratings and mitigate unforeseen revenue fluctuations, unanticipated expenditures and emergency events. The City’s goal is to maintain reserves of at least 20% of annual expenditures. Although the FY2015-16 budget includes drawing down General Fund reserves by about $2,000,000 for one-time capital expenditures, the City’s General Fund balance is projected to remain well above the 20% target.
WHERE DOES THE MONEY COME FROM? Property taxes are the City’s largest revenue source, comprising roughly 44.5% of all General Fund revenues. Property taxes are levied on all residential, commercial, and personal property in the city of Greenville and the levy on a particular piece of property is determined by three factors: market value, assessment ratio and millage rate. The estimate for FY2015-16 is $33,016,832, which is a 4.8% increase from the FY2014-15 property tax budget and reflects growth in real property assessments. Licenses and permits represent the second largest revenue source for the City, comprising approximately 42.9% of all General Fund revenues. The most significant source is the business license fee,
a levy based on each $1,000 of gross receipts, sales or premiums of business done within the corporate limits of the city. The estimate for FY2015-16 is $14,219,337 in locally collected business licenses (excluding insurance companies and telecommunications). The projected growth in that revenue source of 9.7% over the FY2014-15 budget reflects continued improving local economic conditions. The City also receives revenue from companies which issue health, life and fire insurance premiums in the city. Other revenues in the licenses and permits category include franchise fees for electric, gas and cable television. 7
WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO? The City’s annual operating budget is a fiscal, planning and policy tool through which City Council authorizes the government to fund operations during a specific year for specific purposes. It also establishes the financial resources required to support those activities. The General Fund is used to account for the general operations of the City, including key government functions such as Public Safety (44.5%), Public Works (11.6%), Parks & Recreation (10.2%) and Economic & Community Development (3.9%).
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© MIKE BERGEN
BUDGET GOALS The budget emphasizes the following goals, which were determined during City Council’s annual planning retreat: 1) Continued investment in people to attract and retain talented employees and assure the organization has an adequate workforce, both in terms of quality and quantity. 2) Continued reinvestment in the City’s infrastructure and equipment in a sustainable manner to protect its existing investments, avoid higher costs in the future and provide greater budgetary flexibility in subsequent years. 3) Make targeted investments that provide Greenville with a bright future through economic development and productivity improvements. 4) Reserve financial capacity for signature projects so that once the City has the required data and analysis, it has a path forward for their execution.
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BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS The hallmark of this year’s budget is funding for significant infrastructure improvements. The proposed budget also includes the establishment of a $4 million Capital Project Reserve to fund major capital projects in the future.
SAFER STREETS The City of Greenville owns and maintains approximately 224 miles of streets. As part of its pavement management program, streets are assessed on a five-year basis and provided a Pavement Quality Index (PQI) rating between 20 (worst) and 100 (best). Street resurfacing and rehabilitation is prioritized on a “worst first” basis and is funded through the CIP. This year’s budget includes $500,000 for street resurfacing, which will be matched by the Greenville County Transportation Committee’s resurfacing program, for a total of $1 million in street resurfacing funding. This is an increase of 66% over last year. The budget also includes $300,000 for construction of a Market Point Connector Road, which will provide additional traffic relief for the Woodruff Road corridor.
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© MIKE BERGEN
MORE SIDEWALKS The Neighborhood Sidewalk Targeted Expansion Program (NSTEP) is an ongoing program designed to ultimately construct a sidewalk on at least one side of every street within the city. For each round of NSTEP, the City constructs new sidewalk with a curb lawn and makes curb, gutter and storm drainage improvements to the street. Like the resurfacing program, NSTEP utilizes a ranking system for all streets without sidewalk to determine where new sidewalk will be installed, and is funded through the CIP. Approximately eight miles of new sidewalk have been installed since the program began in 1999. This year’s budget includes $700,000 for new sidewalk through NSTEP, which is an increase of 133% over last year.
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The budget also includes $100,000 for construction of sidewalk on Haywood Road from south of the I-385 bridge to Woods Lake Road, on Woods Lake Road from Haywood Road to the Extended Stay Hotel and on Woods Lake Road from Haywood Road to the entrance to Haywood Mall. The budget includes an additional $100,000 for construction of sidewalk on Woodruff Road to provide connectivity from the Shoppes at Greenridge, Carolina Point Parkway, Market Point Drive, Magnolia Park and Costco. The sidewalk will provide a safe pedestrian route along Woodruff Road and link several hotels with restaurants, retail shops and entertainment venues. The City has been approved for approximately $360,000 in grant funding from the South Carolina Department of Transportation’s Transportation Alternative Program for the Woodruff Road sidewalk project. The City intends to apply for similar funding for the Haywood Road sidewalk project in 2016.
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© MIKE BERGEN
WASTEWATER SYSTEM The City has an extensive wastewater collection system with many areas at capacity. The Public Works Department maintains 329 miles of wastewater lines, and oversees a program designed to reduce the amount of flow that enters the City’s collection system prior to arrival at the ReWa Mauldin Road Wastewater Treatment Plant. This year’s budget includes $2,250,000 for reha-bilitation of the wastewater system in areas with limited capacity and excessive inflow (rainwater) and infiltration (groundwater) entering the City’s system. The budget also includes $100,000 for a multi-year project to survey the City’s entire wastewater system and use the data collected in a new sewer modeling software that allows staff to accurately identify current capacity limitations within the City’s system, and quickly determine what upgrades may be required, if any, when new projects are constructed.
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STORMWATER SYSTEM In an effort to reduce flood losses and improve water quality, the City controls the quantity and quality of water generated by precipitation through the maintenance of 267 miles of open ditches and 188 miles of piped drainage, and through the installation of storm drain pipe. The City is also responsible for developing watershed master plans, coordinating improvements to the City’s watershed basins and complying with State/Federal mandates related to stormwater management and water quality design. This year’s budget includes $1,000,000 for storm drainage improvements in the North Hills area to prevent road and property flooding and reduce maintenance. Improvements include culvert replacement on Bennett Street, connectivity to upstream storm drainage and curb, gutter and storm drainage along Bennett Street, Russell Avenue, McDonald Street and Garraux Street.
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AUTOMATION OF SOLID WASTE COLLECTION Two of the City’s Green Ribbon Advisory Committee’s goals in 2014 were to develop a trash and recycling collection system that minimizes adverse impacts on the environment and increases the recycling and reuse of materials in all areas of the city. To that end, over the past year, City staff researched ways to reduce the solid waste stream and improve the efficiency of its operations and equipment, and made recommendations to City Council for implementing the Green Ribbon Advisory Committee’s goals. Starting in 2016, the City will begin transitioning to an automated trash collection system. The new collection system is safer than the current manual collection system, which uses traditional rear loader vehicles, and is designed to improve efficiency, manage the volume of trash going into the landfill and increase recycling participation. This year’s budget includes $2,270,000 for new automated collection vehicles and 95-gallon recycling roll carts for all city residents.
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PARK AND TRAIL AMENITIES The City continues to make significant investments in its trails, parks and facilities. This year’s budget includes $2,375,000 in matching funds to support construction of an extension of the Swamp Rabbit Trail, which will parallel Laurens Road and connect Cleveland Park with CUICAR along the former rail corridor owned by Greenville County Economic Development Corporation. In addition to City funds, Greenville County funds and grant funds through the United States Department of Transportation (if awarded) will be utilized to complete the project. The remainder of the funds will be used to address other trail connections with the expansion of the Swamp Rabbit Trail. The budget also includes $2,100,000 for construction of phase one of a new regional park. The proposed park site is located within the Southernside neighborhood, along the Reedy River, and is bisected by the Swamp Rabbit Trail. Phase one encompasses approximately 11 acres north of the Reedy River, adjacent to the City’s Public Works facilities. The site’s location along the Reedy River Corridor, which spans from Travelers Rest to Lake Con24
estee, has garnered increasing attention in the past two decades, and over the years, its potential for development has resulted in a variety of plans aimed at creating a vision and framework for land uses and activities along the river. The popularity of the Swamp Rabbit Trail has only heightened the private sector’s interest in the area. As a result, rather than focus solely on developing the park, City Council has authorized the hiring of a prominent master planner to review previous plans for the corridor, such as the Reedy River Master Plan created by Clemson University, and incorporate both old and new ideas into a plan which will expand the City’s green space by establishing a larger “park district” of more than 80 acres. Once complete, the plan will be used to steer development of the park and of private property along and adjacent to the river corridor by defining areas for certain land uses (i.e. open space, active recreation, commercial, residential, etc.) and creating design guidelines. Funding for planning efforts related to the proposed park will be provided through a future budget appropriation from Hospitality Tax revenues.
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In conjunction with approval of the budget, City Council also approved a resolution to create a special Neighborhood Park Capital Improvement Plan Committee to study and make recommendations concerning improvements to existing neighborhood parks, and to identify neighborhoods that are unserved or underserved by existing park facilities. City Council will consider funding a Neighborhood Park Capital Improvement Plan with a mid-year appropriation, with the amount and source(s) of funds to be determined at a future date.
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PUBLIC SAFETY While plans are already underway for construction of the City’s new Verdae/ Woodruff Fire Station, this year’s budget also includes $789,083 to upgrade the City’s existing fire stations (for a total budget of $3,582,236 when combined with funding set aside in FY2014-15). Because two of the stations were built in the early 1950s and two were built in the late 1960s, their conditions have deteriorated significantly over time and they are not compliant with National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards. As a result, the funding will be used to address building code, quality of life and NFPA compliance issues. This year’s budget also includes $250,000 to continue to add to and upgrade the City’s public safety camera system. The camera system plays an integral role in maintaining a safe environment in the city, and since the original system was installed over 10 years ago, it must be upgraded to ensure that adequate coverage is being provided and that current technology is being utilized.
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DOWNTOWN AND COMMERCIAL CORRIDORS Public improvements are critical in order to facilitate and promote private development downtown and along commercial corridors. This year’s budget continues to support City Council’s commitment to the revitalization of the city’s commercial corridors by including $200,000 for streetscape improvement projects associated with private development opportunities along corridors such as Augusta Road, Haywood Road, Laurens Road, Pleasantburg Drive and Wade Hampton Boulevard. Examples include installation of new landscaping, sidewalks, curbs and gutters; replacement of existing deteriorated sidewalks, curbs and gutters and the installation of street furniture, signage, decorative lighting and pedestrian signals. The budget also includes an additional $100,000 for streetscape and façade improvements to facilitate and promote private development in the Village of West Greenville.
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The trees along Main Street are a defining feature of Greenville’s downtown, and the budget includes $150,000 for continuation of the Main Street tree rehabilitation project. The project includes replacement of declining trees to provide additional root zone space and replacing sidewalk where tree roots have caused heaving in the concrete and pavement. The budget also includes $500,000 for a multi-year project to improve the appearance and enhance the overall life expectancy of the City’s parking facilities. The funding will be used to provide comprehensive maintenance and upkeep, including water sealing, painting and concrete repair.
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IMPROVED TRANSPORTATION OPTIONS The City is committed to promoting a variety of transportation options and operating an efficient transit system that provides connectivity and safe, convenient ways of getting around without a car. This year’s budget recommends an increased subsidy of $225,680 to Greenville Transit Authority to expand Greenlink’s fixed route service hours, add Sunday service and provide additional trolley service beyond the Central Business District. Throughout the budget process, the City worked diligently to identify the proper balance between its operating and capital budgets, align the budget more closely with City Council priorities and better position the organization for future investments. As a result, this year’s budget ensures that the high standard of City services is maintained, that the quality of life is enhanced and that the city remains an attractive destination for private investment, visitors and future residents.
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GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA