Should the Aquatic Center and $4 million for a hotel parking lot be prioritized, if the City of Greensboro delayed non-discretionary spending to balance 2009-2010’s budget with more taxes and/or cuts probable for 2010-2011?

Work begins on another tight budget

 

…In the past two years, the City Council has had to close $7 million budget gaps to keep from raising taxes.

 

But some of the methods used for balancing the city budget will be tough to replicate for a third year.

 

For instance, the council delayed replacing city vehicles — a $2 million savings that will be difficult to duplicate.

 

The city also put off opening new parks and buildings to reduce the operations budgets. But this year, with new city properties such as Gateway Gardens scheduled to open, they won’t be able to save those costs.

 

The city staff will likely study all its options — from job reductions and furloughs to reducing the hours of city operations — to balance the budget.

 

…Sales tax revenue, which adds nearly $40 million to the city’s budget, is down 11 percent from this time last year, according to the N.C. General Assembly Financial Research Division.

 

…The city plans to issue $210 million worth of bonds in the next 10 years. And a significant portion of those will be sold next year, for parks and road projects and for the new aquatics center. The city will have to start paying off that debt. That could mean an increase in property tax bills to the tune of $35 per $200,000 home, according to one estimate.

 

…Greensboro also will get hit with new rules that require the city to pay more for employee retirement. With more than 2,000 city employees, it’s a new expense that will add up quickly.

“This is going to cost us over a million dollars just in that,” [Rashad] Young said.

 

Amanda Lehmert

Greensboro News and Record, January 25, 2010