Winston-Salem City Council Budget Workshop - May 28, 2025
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Winston-Salem City Council Budget Workshop – May 28, 2025
The Committee of the Whole of the City Council of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, convened a budget workshop on Wednesday, May 28, 2025, at 4:00 p.m. to discuss the proposed Fiscal Year 2025-26 budget and tax rate, as well as preview items for the June 16, 2025 City Council meeting. Mayor Allen Joines called the meeting to order, and Council Member Robert C. Clark, Chair of the Finance Committee, led the discussion. All nine council members were present, with Council Member Barbara Hanes Burke joining virtually.
Discussion Items
- Finance Committee Discussion of FY 2025-26 Proposed Budget (Item G-1): Scott Tesh, Budget & Performance Management Director, presented responses to questions raised in prior workshops. He noted that the county (Forsyth) proposed a tax rate of about 53.25 cents per $100 of value (8% above revenue neutral), while the city's proposed rate is 9% above revenue neutral. The county cut all community partner funding to zero for FY 2025-26, including agencies that also receive city funding (e.g., Old Salem, Kaleideum). Tesh also provided operating ratios for enterprise funds (fairgrounds, Benton Convention Center, Bowman Gray Stadium) and updated a multi-city tax and fee comparison chart showing Durham’s tax rate increasing substantially.
- Mayor's Proposal to Reduce Tax Rate: Mayor Joines proposed directing staff to bring back options to cut approximately $4 million from the budget (roughly one cent on the tax rate) to reduce the proposed increase. Council Member Scott Andree-Bowen supported a similar reduction of 0.8 cents, emphasizing the need to tighten the budget given the shift in property tax burden from commercial/industrial to residential.
- Council Member Annette Scippio's Question on Federal/State Funding Risks: Scippio asked about contingency plans if anticipated federal or state funds are reduced after budget adoption. Tesh responded that the city would have to eliminate programs or services because the tax rate cannot be changed mid-year.
- Council Member Vivián V. Joiner's Question on Property Tax Classification: Joiner asked whether owning multiple rental properties results in a different tax classification than a single-family home. Tesh explained that property tax rates are uniformly applied based on assessed value, not use, and that residential zoning determines the classification regardless of use (e.g., Airbnb).
- Staff's Planned Options for Cuts: Tesh indicated that staff would return with a list of options for reducing the tax rate, including potential cuts to transit services (a major driver of tax increases), personnel adjustments, and delaying some fee increases (e.g., swimming pool fees). He noted that the city would not propose delaying capital purchases or maintenance, as that would shift costs to future years.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes were taken. The workshop was informational, with a plan for the Finance Committee to formally endorse the budget at the June 9, 2025 Committee of the Whole meeting, followed by full council consideration on June 16, 2025.
- Next Steps:
- City Council Meeting Public Hearing – June 2, 2025 at 6:00 p.m.
- City Council Meeting Budget Adoption – June 16, 2025 at 6:00 p.m.
- Council Member Clark stated he would meet individually with each council member to gather input and build consensus before the Finance Committee vote.
- Conflict of Interest Disclosure: Staff distributed a form for council members to list their nonprofit board affiliations to ensure proper recusals during budget votes.
The meeting adjourned at 4:31 p.m. on a motion by Mayor Pro Tempore Denise D. Adams, seconded by Council Member Joiner, carried unanimously.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Alan Jones, Mayor of Windows. My honor to call to order this meeting of the City Council acting as a committee of the whole. And would ask the city clerk to call the roll, please. Councilmember joyner. Present. Councilmember Clark. Here. Councilmember Andrew Bowen. Councilmember Scipio. Present. Mayor Prantim Adams. Here. Councilmember Taylor. Present. Councilmember Hall. Present. And Councilmember Burke. Here. Councilmember Burke is joining us by Zoom. Welcome, Councilmember Burke. I will now turn the meeting over to the Chairman of the Finance Committee, Councilmember Clark. Thank you, Mayor. Just a few comments before we get going with today's agenda. It is my intention to at the June 9th committee, the whole meeting, to convene a finance committee meeting at that time for the finance committee to actually endorse the budget. Now when we do that, there's a number of different things that we're not just one motion, it's a series of motions. But uh I'm gonna wait till then because I I'm trying to meet with everyone, not just the finance committee members, to get a feel. And I will talk with each one of y'all individually, and I will try to come up with some type of consensus and present that for the finance committee to vote on. Now that will then go to the full committee, which will be the next date that is. Somebody give me a 16th. And the full council will then vote on the same motions again, and that will be for everyone to do it. So uh what we have had are sessions where the staff has taken comments back, and I'm gonna make some comment uh before before after Scott finishes whatever he's going to do. Uh but continue to ask questions. Uh and you may certainly reach out to me. I will be reaching out to each one of y'all, but you may certainly reach out as well on any specific items. This is a very thick book. And what may tweak your answers may not tweak someone else's, but please uh the my door is always open, but as the finance chairman, I try to pull it all together and come up with something that I think will somewhat be happy with. Anyway, with that, Mr. Tisch. You may speak good afternoon, Chairman, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, members of the City Council. Uh before we get started, I do want to note at all of your seats, you will see a hand piece of paper. Um several years ago, the General Assembly passed a law uh that uh essentially says that you can't vote on uh conflicts of interest with nonprofits on on which any elected official uh may sit on the board, be employed by or otherwise have otherwise have an association with. Uh we've tried to reach out uh via email. We want to make sure that we're hitting all of our bases. So if you would take just a few minutes at some point uh today or or the next day, um make sure that we have the correct list of the boards that you sit on or otherwise have an affiliation with. Uh we will have to draw the ordinances based on all of those uh that are filled out uh when we come back to you with those recommendations for approval. So we do have a very um quick uh slideshow representation over the course of the last uh two budget um workshops. There have been some questions asked. We do have some responses to a few of those. There are quite a few of them.
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