Strategic Plan FY2022-2024

Introduction The City of Rock Hill’s Strategic Plan is more than a document, it is a reflection of who we want to be as a community. Referred to daily by staff at all levels within the organization, and at the heart of the work of each day, this strategic plan provides concrete goals our city government must work towards. Ultimately, this is really about our future—creating a Rock Hill for all our residents. This strategic plan also is a promise to our stakeholders—we are committed to live up to our motto of being ‘Always On’ in our pursuit of making Rock Hill the best place to live, work, and visit.

Serving • Engaging • Growing

Contents

City Council

Serving our Community

John Gettys

Neighborhoods

6

Mayor

Customer Service

8

Derrick Lindsay

Core Services

9

Ward 1

Engaging Residents

Kathy Pender

Public Trust

12

Ward 2

Community Building

14

Kevin Sutton

Partnerships

15

Ward 3

Growing Rock Hill

John A. Black III

Knowledge Park

18

Ward 4

Local Economy

20

Nikita Jackson

Connectivity

21

Ward 5

22

Jim Reno

Follow our Progress

Ward 6

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Citizen Involvement The City’s strategic plan process is centered around understanding the thoughts, background, and perceptions of our stakeholders. Only by addressing the needs and wants of the community can we move forward. The City uses a variety of methods and tools to gain insight—descriptions below are the major ways in which we gather this data.

Community Meetings Whether at regularly scheduled Council meetings, neighborhood gatherings, or specially held discussions—the City gets great insight through regular engagement with community members.

Focus Groups Typically utilized for specific projects—and every three years for visioning exercises— focus groups allow us to dig deep into the reasons and thoughts behind resident sentiment.

The National Citizen Survey Externally administered survey, every three years, that gauges Rock Hill residents on ten central facets of livability. This survey is a random sampling of households across the City that covers all City services, community building, and topics concerning the future of our community.

Business Survey Every three years, all business license holders are asked to give feedback on the City’s provision of services, challenges, and the overall direction of Rock Hill.

Employee Survey Internally administered survey, every three years, that gauges Rock Hill employee views on aspects of the City as an organization.

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Serving our Community The heart of our community is the residents who live, work and play here.

“Serving our Community” highlights our dedication to local efforts—safe neighborhoods, local recreational opportunities, reliable utility infrastructure, and customer service.

People choose to live in Rock Hill because of what our community offers residents— welcoming neighborhoods, stable employment, and a community rallied around a common purpose— cultivating the best community in America.

Percent respondents rate as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’

What makes Rock Hill, Rock Hill? The people. The events. The sense of community. It is us, supporting each other and finding that we have more in common than we have different.

Serving our Community is not just the City’s commitment to providing public services, it is the City’s promise to keep true to itself. The City of Rock Hill strives to continue providing core services with great customer service, while finding opportunities for improving the livelihood of its residents.

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Serving Goals 1. Foster thriving neighborhoods throughout the City and a safe, familyfriendly community

2. Ensure exceptional customer service and proactive communication through courteous, responsive, and knowledgeable employees

3. Provide important core services and invest in infrastructure needs to become more reliable and predictive 5

Neighborhoods are the heart of our community— the place where we choose to live. Here in Rock Hill, we know for neighborhoods to thrive, they need to be clean and safe. They have to be places where people can be outside and recreate. Our neighborhoods have to be comfortable. This goal seeks to promote the well-being of our neighborhoods—supported through City programs and services that enhance the quality of life we have at home.

Reduce the crime rate and support community efforts to improve resident safety

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Respond timely to all Priority One public safety calls

Below the UNC School of Government benchmark average of 5.3 minutes

Reduce citywide property crime

By at least 2% annually (based on five year average)

Reduce citywide violent crime

By at least 1% annually (based on five year average)

Contain residential fires to the room of origin

By at least 75%

Increase the percentage of residents who feel very or somewhat safe

By more than 57% satisfaction

Improve the overall well-being of neighborhoods Maintain a voluntary compliance rate citywide

Of at least 85%

Increase rental vacancy rates

By at least 1% annually

Increase homeownership rates

By at least 2% annually

Expand the Resource Education and Development Initiative (REDI) into at least one additional By 6/30/2023 neighborhood and establish baseline data

Increase the percentage of residents who are satisfied with code enforcement

Above 25% satisfaction

Provide additional park + recreational opportunities for residents Deploy the REC in a Box program throughout the community

At least 100 times per year

Increase recreation center participation

By at least 10% annually

Maintain or increase the percentage of residents who are satisfied with City parks and playgrounds

Above 86% satisfaction

The goal of fostering thriving neighborhoods also includes a number of monthly measures. Highlights include the following: 

Increasing the number of homes with working smoke detectors; see at least 75% of homes with at least one smoke detector.



Hosting at least one interview skill session in each of the recreation centers annually.



Instituting at least two stormwater mitigation techniques in neighborhoods annually.



Auditing the residential sanitation program including routes, process, billing, etc. by 6/30/2022.



Completing at least one neighborhood park improvement project annually.

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Goal: Ensure exceptional customer service and proactive communication through courteous, responsive, and knowledgeable employees One of the most important core values of the City of Rock Hill is providing exceptional customer service. In everything employees do, the expectation is to do so with a focus on being safe, courteous, responsive, knowledgeable, and efficient. This goal seeks to uphold these tenets for the benefit of the City’s customers.

Continue to enhance the customer service experience Increase paperless billing customers

By at least 5% annually

Attain call wait times

Below 90 seconds

Maintain a safe work environment for employees

Through tracking and establishing a baseline of the Total Case Incident Rate (TCIR)

Increase the percentage of residents whose overall impression of City employees was positive

Above 71% satisfaction

Enhance current communication methods to provide various information to all of the City’s audiences Maintain electronic newsletter engagement Above 60%

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Increase social media engagement on the City’s Facebook

Above 2% median engagement

Increase the percentage of residents who rate public information services positively

Above 59% satisfaction

Goal: Provide important core services and invest in infrastructure needs to become more reliable and predictive The City of Rock Hill has been a full-service city for over 100 years, providing high quality electric, water, sewer, and stormwater services. As the regional provider for water and sewer services, the City of Rock Hill has a responsibility to keep ahead of continued growth by proactively managing growth while maintaining the existing system. This goal seeks to track large, multi-year projects and provide these vital services in a customer focused manner.

Strengthen the reliability of our utility infrastructure Complete the construction of the next electric substation

By 6/30/2024

Complete the construction of the 6th elevated water storage tank

By 6/30/2024

Complete the next phase of the wastewater plant upgrades (clarifier and headworks)

By 6/30/2024

Maintain regulatory compliance for water/sewer

100% compliance

Promote efficient, predictable services and measures that will enhance core services Maintain a system average interruption duration index (SAIDI)

Of less than 145.87 minutes

Reduce non-metered loss of water

By at least 0.5% annually

Complete customer driven utility related work orders in a timely manner

75% completed within 7 business days

Complete pothole work orders in a timely manner

100% completed within 2 business days

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Engaging Residents The success of our community is closely intertwined with our ability to engage residents in the future of Rock Hill.

“Engaging” highlights our civic responsibility to involve all relevant stakeholders through outreach efforts, placemaking, and partnerships. The City is committed to excel in efforts Percent respondents rate as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’ supporting inclusivity, creating a positive sense of place, and connecting the community around inviting public spaces. Focuses for engaging also include efforts such as workforce housing development, sports tourism facilities and events, athletic programming, greenspace, art, and special population programming.

Engaging our Community articulates the City’s responsibility to enhance public trust, encourage civic pride, and build cross-community partnerships that enhance the quality of life for all Rock Hill’s residents. The first strategic goal, Serving our Community, is largely dependent upon the City’s ability to effectively engage with residents and understanding how they see our community.

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Engaging Goals 4. Enhance public trust and encourage civic pride

5. Foster community

building, placemaking, and inclusive efforts

6. Facilitate

partnerships that encourage a wide range of cultural, community, and educational activities for all ages 11

Goal: Enhance public trust and encourage civic pride The City recognizes that effective engagement is closely tied to the public’s confidence in regulatory compliance, fiscal sustainability, and overcoming the challenges of today. This goal also seeks to find greater opportunities to facilitate additional workforce/affordable housing units.

Enhance transparency and participatory activities

Maintain compliance with all regulatory requirements

Maintain 100% compliance annually

Maintain active participation on City Council appointed boards and commissions

Average less than 45 days per vacancy

Promote fiscal sustainability efforts

Maintain or increase bond ratings

Achieve credit ratings of at least: - A2 (Utility Fund) - Aa3 (General Fund) - A1 (Hospitality Tax)

Compare costs per capita related to the UNC School of Government’s benchmark average

Annually for: - Police services cost per capita - Fire services cost per capita - Building services cost per capita

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Facilitate efforts to support workforce/affordable housing throughout the community

Begin construction of the Osceola workforce housing project

By 6/30/2024

Decrease the percentage of renters who are cost burdened

Below 50%

Village at Osceola is a 33 unit, mixed-income development being spearheaded by the Housing Development Corporation of Rock Hill located off of McDow Drive.

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Goal: Foster community building, placemaking, and inclusive efforts Rock Hill takes great pride in its efforts to build a strong community.

Recognizing there is more that unites us than divides us, this goal seeks to promote opportunities for all Rock Hill’s people to be involved—through the benefits of our world-class sport tourism facilities, efforts that nurture a compassionate and inclusive community, and the positive impact that natural, green space has on the well-being of our community.

Continue to excel in sports tourism efforts

Maintain a direct economic impact of sports tourism efforts

Above $70 million annually by FY2024

Increase the hospitality tax revenue generated

By 4% annually

Create a compassionate, inclusive community

Approve the Clinton ConNEXTion Action Plan and develop strategies/baseline metrics for implementation

By 6/30/2022

Increase the percentage of residents who feel connected and engaged with the community

Above 42% satisfaction

Incorporate and support greenspace throughout the City

Maintain a tree canopy across the City

Of at least 45%

Complete the trail connection from Riverwalk to Manchester Meadows

By 6/30/2024

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Goal: Facilitate partnerships that encourage a wide range of cultural, community, and educational activities Partnerships and community are what makes Rock Hill a special place. Residents and visitors alike commend City efforts to sustain long-standing, traditional events and to create new and exciting opportunities for people. This goal seeks to measure how the City keeps people engaged in events, creates learning opportunities, and reaches out to special populations with therapeutic programs.

Provide opportunities for community-wide cultural, artistic, and ongoing educational efforts

Offer or co-sponsor community events or festivals

At least twice per month (on average)

Enhance lifelong learning opportunities for residents

By having at least 60 students complete at least one course annually

Work with the community to expand opportunities for special populations

Deploy at least three new programs at Miracle Park

By 12/31/2022

Increase participation in PRT Therapeutic Recreation programs

By 5% annually

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Growing Rock Hill Working with local businesses, individual entrepreneurs, and local educational institutions, the City sees the future of Rock Hill’s success in balanced growth. “Growing” demonstrates the City’s commitment to providing the right circumstances for people and businesses to succeed. The City is engaged in the development of Knowledge Park— a hub in the heart of Downtown that will be the epicenter of our knowledge based economy. An important component of this economy is to support talent development and an entrepreneurial community for the jobs of tomorrow. Beyond the center city, the City continues to explore options to make Rock Hill the most business-friendly city in the state of South Carolina.

Percent of respondents who indicated satisfaction

Building on the strong foundation in “Serving our Community” and “Engaging Residents”, Growing Rock Hill is about our future and shared prosperity. This means creating new job opportunities for all residents by creating connections that eliminate transportation barriers and creating a vibrant, urban core. Growing Rock Hill is our commitment to the future.

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Growing Goals 7. Make Knowledge Park a vibrant, active, and connected urban destination

8. Promote a strong and diverse local economy to promote business prosperity and business park success

9. Improve connectivity to reliable and sustainable transportation modes 17

Goal: Make Knowledge Park a vibrant, active, and connected urban destination Knowledge Park, the Downtown area of Rock Hill, is a walkable, multifaceted district that is shaping a modern economy. Knowledge Park’s success is largely centered around continued job growth, development, and a sense of place. Rock Hill is poised for significant development in the next three years. We must ensure that Downtown is for everyone through efforts like entrepreneurial programs and the inclusion of workforce housing units.

Provide foundational infrastructure needs to facilitate continued growth in the city’s core

Complete City infrastructure on the University Center site

By 6/30/2024

Maintain a commercial vacancy rate in Knowledge Park

Below 30%

Increase the value of assessed property in the Downtown and Textile Corridor TIF districts

Maintain coverage of at least 1.2x debt service annually

Promote continued new and redeveloped residential efforts in and around the Knowledge Park area

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Implement the workforce housing policy in all new residential developments

By permitting at least 100 new affordable units by 6/30/2024

Attract and support residential construction in Knowledge Park

By permitting at least 500 new market-rate units by 6/30/2024

See voluntary compliance for substandard issues in neighborhoods surrounding Knowledge Park

Averaging less than 30 days

Link Downtown, University Center, and Winthrop University through a variety of connective mediums Increase the Walk score Downtown

Score of 62 “somewhat walkable” or better

Begin construction on a bike/pedestrian route between Winthrop University and Downtown over Dave Lyle Blvd.

By 6/30/2024

Increase the percentage of residents who affirmed they walk or bike instead of driving

Above 45% on community survey

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Goal: Promote a strong and diverse local economy to promote business prosperity and business park success A strong local economy is essential to growth in Rock Hill. The City of Rock Hill focuses on creating business-friendly conditions to support the Rock Hill business climate through competitive rates, reasonable plan review times, and safety inspections.

Encourage a business-friendly environment in Rock Hill that creates new jobs and private investment Provide high quality support to small businesses through the Open for Business program

By receiving at least 81% satisfaction from respondents in the business survey

Support the creation of new jobs across the city

By at least 750 new jobs created/ retained annually

Support private development in the Albright/Saluda Corridor

See at least $1 million annually in new investment

Support opportunities for talent development and workforce readiness

Provide hands-on learning opportunities for high school students through the Works program

See at least 50 students complete the Works annually

See a financial return on investment related to the Venture Mentoring Service

By at least 1.2x expenses

Deliver City services that enhance safety and efficiency for the business community

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Maintain competitive commercial cost to serve rates for all City services

Within 5% of the benchmark cities averages

Complete initial plan reviews for new commercial buildings and civil constructions

By an average of less than 10 business days

Maintain fire safety through commercial inspections

Within 5% of the average of benchmark cities of inspections completed per fire inspector

Goal: Invest in road, sidewalk, and airport infrastructure to provide for connections and future growth Managing and building the infrastructure within Rock Hill is a critical factor in the growth of the community. Strong connectivity, through roads, sidewalks, and other transportation facilities provides a foundation for development and improves mobility choices for Rock Hill residents.

Develop a public transit system to support mobility amongst residents and visitors Achieve an on-time goal for all City bus routes

Of at least 90%

Ensure exceptional customer service with City bus routes

With less than 1 complaint per 50 passenger trips

Maintain a fare-free bus system through external partnerships

See at least 40% of the City’s contribution covered by partners

Invest in road, sidewalk, and airport infrastructure to provide for connections and future growth Begin instrument landing system installation

By 6/30/2024

Achieve a pavement condition index average

Of at least 75% by 6/30/2024

Increase the percentage of residents who rate street repair positively

Above 18% satisfaction

Increase the percentage of residents who rate sidewalk maintenance positively

Above 41% satisfaction

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Our Commitment The City of Rock Hill is committed to accomplishing the goals articulated in this strategic plan.

Our promise is to serve residents by creating a safe, family-friendly city with reliable amenities. City employees will continue to uphold our core values of being courteous and responsive. We will also continue to enhance public trust with an emphasis on community building. We also pledge to grow our community through supporting economic development both in Knowledge Park and the broader city.

Ultimately, the City of Rock Hill’s slogan of being ‘Always On’ means working hard, with residents and local businesses, on all fronts to make Rock Hill the best community in America.

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Follow our Progress We are committed to providing continuous updates on our progress. Departments provide monthly data on the City’s website, highlighting dozens of output measures. A more comprehensive effort is undertaken biannually when the City publishes mid-year and year-end performance reports that quantify the City’s progress in meeting the tasks listed in this Strategic Plan. These performance reports provide qualitative and quantitative data to easily understand our successes and challenges. Along with these biannual reports, the City publishes a Performance Dashboard that provides graphical representation of our progress.

Our Strategic Plan guides the formation of our work programs, budgets, and capital plans. With such far reaching implications, the City has made a commitment to transparency using a variety of mediums. A financial dashboard provides monthly revenue and expenditure data comparing budgeted and actual figures. Financial information is further described in the City’s monthly financial reports. Additionally, the City provides benchmarking comparisons with a number of other municipalities through the Ranking Rock Hill site. The City strives to be competitive in every service we provide, from public safety to credit ratings. Visit: www.cityofrockhill.com/transparency for more information.

City Support The accomplishment of City Council’s goals is largely completed through the hard work and dedication of City staff. The organization’s includes:

David Vehaun City Manager

Jimmy Bagley Deputy City Manager

Steven Gibson Deputy City Manager and over 900 committed employees in fourteen departments

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www.cityofrockhill.com/transparency

City of Rock Hill 155 Johnston St. PO Box 11706 Rock Hill, SC 29731 www.cityofrockhill.com