Winston-Salem Finance Committee Meeting - October 14, 2025
Finance Committee Meeting – October 14, 2025
The Finance Committee of the Winston-Salem City Council met on Tuesday, October 14, 2025, at 4:00 PM in City Hall. Chair Robert C. Clark called the meeting to order; Council Members James Taylor Jr. and Annette Scippio were present, and Mayor Pro Tempore Denise D. Adams was absent. The meeting adjourned at 4:27 PM. The committee considered consent items, vehicle purchases, a park trail construction contract, and received an update on police pension plans.
Consent Calendar
- C-2 – Ordinance amending the Fiscal Year 2025-2026 Project Budget Ordinance: Approved by consent vote (3-0, Adams absent).
- C-3 – Approval of Finance Committee meeting minutes from September 9, 2025: Approved by consent vote.
Discussion Items
C-1 – Report from the Film Partnership of North Carolina on Use of City Grant Funds
Assistant City Manager Ben Rowe presented the report. The city awarded a $100,000 grant in September 2022 to support an intern program. The partnership placed 70 interns across 10 productions, with interns coming from various city zip codes. Partnerships were established with Winston-Salem State University and Forsyth Technical Community College. Council Member Scippio expressed support for the film industry as an emerging sector. Rebecca Clark of the Piedmont Triad Film Commission highlighted recent successes, including "A Little Prayer" and "The Bard," and noted a new production starting at the end of the month. Producer Lauren Vilchik explained that intern funds go directly to trainees, not productions. Council members inquired about local incentives to address the lack of union crew base; further discussions with staff were encouraged. The item was for information only.
G-4 – Update on Funding Status of Police Pension Plans
Chief Financial Officer Kelly Latham provided an update. The Winston-Salem Police Officers’ Retirement System (WSPORS) is a closed plan for officers hired before 2014, replacing Social Security. As of January 2025, the plan was 84% funded (actuarial liability $250M, assets $210M); as of June 2025, funding rose to 90%. The national average for state/local plans is 77.7%. The separation allowance plan is 45% funded ($32M liability, $15M assets), with most peers paying on a pay-as-you-go basis. Both plans are projected to be fully funded by 2038-2039. The update was informational.
Key Outcomes & Votes
- G-1 – Resolution to purchase 29 Ford Maverick compact hybrid pickup trucks from Parks Ford for $866,404: Approved (3-0). Recommended to City Council on November 3, 2025.
- G-2 – Resolution to purchase 83 Ford Interceptor PPVs from Deacon Jones Ford for $3,547,649.05: Approved (3-0). Recommended to City Council on October 20, 2025.
- G-3 – Resolution awarding construction contract for Helen Nichols Park Walking Trail to Hodgin Construction Company at a not-to-exceed amount of $992,000: Approved (3-0). Recommended to City Council on November 3, 2025. Staff noted that after two bid attempts, the low bid ($1,069,550) exceeded budget; project scope was reduced and self-purchased equipment used to meet budget.
No other business was discussed. The meeting adjourned at 4:27 PM.
Meeting Transcript
I'll call the meeting to order. If the uh clerk will please read the roll or take the roll. Chair person, councilman Clark. Here. Mayor Pertim Adams. Councilmember Scipio, President, and Councilmember Taylor. Mayor Pro Tim Adams is under the weather today, but is look watching us on TV. And I don't think the Zoom is working. Is that correct? So she said if I do anything she wants to say, she'll email me or text me. We'll see. See if I want to recognize her or not. See what's going on here. Okay, we will now get going on our monthly meeting. Consent items. We have three consent items. Is there any item anyone would want to pull? C one. C one. Any others? I make a motion to approve the balance. We have a motion to second approve the ballots. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? It is approved. Mr. Rao, you have C1. Item C one report from the Film Partnership of North Carolina on use of city grant funds to support intern. Should I should I make a comment before this? Oh yeah, hang on a minute. Okay. Ms. Hippie will pull if she'd like to make a comment. Um I just wanted to say this is just uh one of those emerging industries that we have been uh supporting for many many years in Weston Salem, and it really started as I can recall when the school yards film school came to town, and that was somewhere back in the 90s, I believe. And to see where we are today is just another testament of how our community underwrites uh unique initiative. So Mr. Raoult, just an overview of what we've done, what we're doing, and how this has impacted us so far. Good afternoon, Chairman Clark, mayor joins members of City Council. So back in uh September of 2022, uh the City Council authorized a grant of a hundred thousand dollars to the film partnership of North Carolina to support an intern program to help uh really grow the production workforce here in the triad. Um the uh more union-based workforce exists in Wilmington and and Charlotte, and there's been efforts you know to try to help uh you know bolster the production workforce here so that more film and television and even streaming uh productions could could locate here. Um so it's been a couple years since that grant was awarded. Uh they have provided us a report on the their use of the grant, and that was included in the uh item uh on the finance committee agenda. Just very briefly, uh they were able to place 70 interns uh in 10 productions, and if you see there on the report, the uh the interns come from various zip codes throughout the city. They've also established a number of partnerships uh locally with uh once the same state university for site technical community college. Uh so uh I think we've really have seen the you know the productions here lately uh continue to grow. Uh a couple you know recent ones, uh a little prayer, which is actually I think playing right now at Aperture, and then uh the most recent production that wrapped up was the Bard. They have another production. There's another production that's scheduled to start uh at the end of this month. So uh I would like to just recognize Lauren Vilchik, who's a uh professor on the faculty at the School of Filmmaking, and also a producer who is involved in these projects.
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