5
Adopted FY 2014-15 Budget
In March 2013, City Council approved sale of land
to a lead developer for the South Elm Brownfield
project. In January 2014, the City Council voted to
support the development of the Union Square
Campus as part of this site. Union Square is a
partnership among Greensboro’s colleges and
universities to create a state-of-the-art facility to
address the continuing education needs of the
medical community and to develop a new high tech
medical simulation lab. In addition, South Elm
Street Redevelopment is being used as a
demonstration project for job creation and capacity
building for Historically Underutilized Businesses
(HUB) under a contract with Sustainable
Community Resources.
The FY 14-15 Recommended Budget includes
continued
support
for
various
economic
development and cultural partners such as the
Greensboro Partnership, East Market Street
Development Corporation, the Piedmont Triad Film
Commission, the Children’s Museum and the
Wyndham Championship. As part of the City’s
overall strategy to reduce the budget and maintain
a level tax rate, it is necessary to recommend a
10% reduction in City support for these
organizations and other similar organizations
serving the community in cultural and economic
support roles.
“Promote public safety and reduce crime.”
Closely aligned with our economic development
strategic goal is the organization’s desire to
promote public safety. A safe community is a
critical component of an economically vibrant
community.
The Reedy Fork Fire Station will open in early in FY
14-15. Fifteen positions previously allocated for the
station were filled during FY 13-14. The station will
serve the already developed Reedy Fork area and
provide fire and rescue coverage for future
residential and commercial development in the
area. Fifteen new firefighter positions are included
in the FY 14-15 budget to add a new Fire engine
company in east Greensboro for improved service
delivery. The company will be placed initially at Mt.
Hope Church Fire Station (Station #57) and
eventually assigned to the Burlington Road Station
to be constructed sometime in FY 15-16.
The City of Greensboro and Guilford County have
signed a contract with Motorola to take Technical
Services through the next 5 years of P25 (radio
system platform) migration and expansion. The
replacement of this vital infrastructure is underway
and will continue through FY 14-15 and beyond.
The Migration Assurance Plan project, including
core system upgrades, annual maintenance, four
new tower sites, a new UHF Paging System for
Guilford County Fire, and the conversion of the
remaining 14 channels to P25 functionality is
scheduled to begin in FY 14-15. Renovations at the
Guilford Metro 911 Justice Center to administrative,
training, and public entrance facilities will be
completed during FY 14-15.
The Recommended FY 14-15 Budget also includes
a total of $345,000 for several enhancements for
the Police Department. The FY 14-15 and FY 15-
16 budgets each include $210,000 ($420,000 total)
to replace the Police Department’s entire
complement of aging body armor. Additional
funding of $55,000 for the Priority Offender program
will bring total annual funding to $175,000, and
expand the program from 100 to 150 monitored
offenders. The recommended budget also includes
$80,000 for the Fair and Impartial Policing training
effort.
Police, Libraries and Parks and Recreation
continue
their
collaboration
to
provide
programming options in an effort to positively
impact the juvenile crime rate. For example,
Summer Night Lights (SNL), a series of free teen
events, will be held during the summer at times that
are traditionally high risk for juvenile crime. These
departments, along with City Council and
community partners, are further collaborating to
start the summer with a Teen Summit to inform
youth of the variety of activities available through
the summer season.
“Maintain infrastructure and provide sustainable
growth opportunities.”
Bond referenda passed by the residents of
Greensboro in 2006, 2008 and 2009 authorized
borrowing of over $228 million for streets, fire
stations, parks and other improvements. The City
continues its strategy of managing the borrowing for
these needed capital improvements without
requiring tax increases for debt service.
The City issued $50 million in Bond Anticipation
Notes in FY 13-14 (to be converted to General
Obligation Bonds in 2016) to advance a variety of
projects.
These projects include continued improvements to
Horsepen Creek Road, High Point Road
Streetscape, Cone Boulevard/Nealtown Road and
the downtown greenway, along with other sidewalk
improvements and street resurfacing. This bond
sale provided funding for the McConnell Road Fire
Station (to replace the existing fire station on
Franklin Boulevard) and the Burlington Road Fire
Station. Other supported projects include Griffin
Park improvements, Keeley Park improvements
and support for the Greensboro Science Center—
Phase II.
Subsequent to the 2014 bond sale, approximately
City Manager’s Budget Message
