OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Winston-Salem City Council Budget Workshop – May 12, 2026

Meeting Portal — Tuesday, May 12, 2026
BodyWinston Salem, North Carolina
SessionMeeting Portal
DateTuesday, May 12, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:44:26

Transcript — Verbatim
0:01

Good afternoon, everyone.

0:03

I'm Alan Joyce, Mayor of Winston.

0:05

It's my pleasure to call to order this meeting of the Western City Council meeting as a committee of the whole to commence the discussion of our annual budget and take some actions.

0:18

We're also happy to have with us representatives of UNC School of Government.

0:23

Glad to have you with us today as well.

0:26

Would you call the role, please, Madam Clark?

0:29

Councilmember Joyner.

0:30

Present.

0:31

Councilmember Clark.

0:32

Here.

0:33

Councilmember Andrew Bowen.

0:34

Here.

0:34

Councilmember Scipio.

0:36

Present.

0:36

Mayor Pro Tim Adams.

0:37

Councilmember Taylor.

0:39

Present.

0:39

Councilmember Hall.

0:40

President.

0:40

And Councilmember Burke.

0:43

Thank you very much.

0:45

Mr.

0:45

Clark's chairman of the finance committee.

0:48

Do you want to take it and run with it now?

0:49

Or yeah, I just have one question for the mayor, though, before we start.

0:52

Do you know where your rubber signature stamp is?

0:55

I got it.

0:58

That's how Pollett Mountain lost all their money.

1:01

Oh.

1:02

You didn't see that in the paper.

1:04

I don't really think the mayor's stamp and was stamping checks with.

1:09

Well, we signed everything by hand here.

1:14

Mr.

1:15

City Manager, you want any introductions?

1:17

I know uh Scott's coming up here in a minute.

1:19

Uh uh, yes.

1:20

Uh before we get into the budget side, um, as I've mentioned to all of you, uh this the uh UFC School of Government has uh reached out and asked us to participate uh with them in a in a project they're doing looking at measuring board effectiveness.

1:34

And um uh uh uh Colt uh Jensen and um Becca Fisher Gilbert Gabbard are here that are they're leading that effort, and so they they're going to do uh just a quick brief presentation to you of what they're doing, and uh then ask you to do a quick survey as a first part of the meeting before we head into the real budget items uh today.

1:56

But this is um as I mentioned to you, I I think it's uh I was very appreciative that they reach out to us, one of the looking for best practices and ways to improve the training that they're doing for folks at the school of government, and so I think it's uh it's an honor for them to ask us to be that, and I know they're appreciative that you're willing to participate and do this as well.

2:15

So I think as Colt, I'll I'll introduce Colt first.

2:18

Uh, I think he's gonna get through the presentation.

2:20

Sir, you have the floor.

2:22

Thank you, Mayor and Council.

2:24

It is a great honor, and I'm very grateful to be here today.

2:28

My name is Cole Jensen.

2:30

I'm here with Becca Fisher Gabbard from the School of Government.

2:32

And the School of Government has three guiding values.

2:36

First, we are nonpartisan, policy neutral, and responsive.

2:40

And it is the responsiveness piece of our message or our mission that brings us here today.

2:46

So we are working to be responsive to the ever-evolving dynamics of board relations and staff relations, and we want to better understand how we can serve both our elected officials and our administrative officials.

3:00

And as a council that does a lot of ambitious things and does them well, we wanted to reach out to Winston Salem first.

3:08

So within North Carolina and across the country, we are seeing heightened polarization and conflict as there's more and more gridlock at the state and federal level, both within parties and between parties.

3:21

We're seeing more contentious issues filter down to the local level.

3:26

We're also seeing differences in personality that make it difficult to have a positive working relationship between council members but also between staff.

3:35

Um so what we want to do is to be able to better help and be responsive to our elected and administrative officials as they face uh communication breakdowns and be able to better assist them by pinpointing the areas of friction that are occurring.

3:53

So, what we want to do is better develop a diagnostic tool for workplace dysfunction.

3:58

Um, and it's quite the opposite that brings us here today.

4:02

You all are doing really good work, so we want to have a positive comparison group so that we can know what things should look like.

4:10

So my presentation today is going to be very short.

4:13

This is going to be less than five minutes, and then you're gonna get a survey, and this survey we've conservatively estimated that it will take 15 minutes to complete, but in reality it'll likely be far less than 10 minutes.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Budget Equity Analysis█████████████████████████████████33%
Procedural███████████████15%
Fiscal Sustainability██████████████14%
Personnel Matters██████████10%
Healthcare Benefits██████6%
Transportation Safety█████5%
Public Engagement█████5%
Technology and Innovation████4%
Community Engagement███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Winston-Salem City Council Budget Workshop – May 12, 2026

On May 12, 2026, the Winston-Salem City Council met as a Committee of the Whole for a budget workshop. The meeting included a presentation from the UNC School of Government on measuring board effectiveness and a detailed overview of the proposed FY2026-27 operating and capital budgets. Council discussed health benefit changes, a proposed 2.6-cent property tax increase, and other budget drivers. No formal votes were taken.

UNC School of Government Presentation

  • Cole Jensen and Becca Fisher Gabbard from the UNC School of Government presented a research project to develop a diagnostic tool for board effectiveness. They asked council members to complete a voluntary 10-minute survey, emphasizing that responses would be anonymous and reported in aggregate. Council members chose to complete the survey outside of the meeting and return it to the city clerk. The presenters offered to share a one- to two-page summary of findings and use the results to inform training for other municipalities. Council asked clarifying questions about the scope of participating jurisdictions.

Proposed Budget Overview

  • Scott Tesh, City Budget Director, presented the proposed FY2026-27 budget, totaling over $700 million. Key components included:
    • Property tax increase: 2.6 cents per $100 valuation (to 56.7 cents), generating approximately $12 million for the general fund. This equates to about $5.50 per month for a median-value home.
    • Public safety: Two-thirds of the general fund increase is allocated to police, fire, and emergency management.
    • Employee compensation: A 3% merit raise for employees receiving satisfactory performance appraisals (over 95% of staff typically qualify).
    • Health care: Proposed plan changes effective January 2027, including increased deductibles, copays, and maximum out-of-pocket costs; removal of preventive brand and GLP-1 weight-loss medications from zero-dollar copay; implementation of medical management programs; and a 7% overall premium increase. The city's cost share would shift from 84% to 83%.
    • Other fee increases: Stormwater fees by 4%, water/sewer rates by 5% on average, solid waste disposal fees (minimal impact), and various user fees (picnic shelters, EV charging, etc.).
    • Not funded: Over $3 million in departmental personnel requests, $7 million in non-personnel requests, $4 million for affordable housing, and additional youth programming, street resurfacing, and website replacement.
  • Council members asked questions and made comments:
    • Councilmember Scipio asked about the number of municipalities participating in the UNC study.
    • Councilmember Clark inquired about the cost share comparison with peer cities and the potential for reducing the city's share.
    • Councilmember Bowen asked about the causes of rising health claims (medical conditions, not enrollment changes).
    • Councilmember Taylor asked for clarity on grant-funded positions transitioning to general fund (19 positions: 15 firefighters, 4 BEAR team members) and the net cost of the police Axon contract.
    • Councilmember Hall requested information on a 2% COLA option and the percentage of employees receiving satisfactory ratings.
    • Mayor Pro Tem Adams asked if staff could identify $2 million for affordable housing without raising the tax rate; the city manager agreed to provide analysis.
    • Chair Clark made extensive remarks, noting rising health insurance costs, the need to monitor legislative attention on property taxes, and the benefit of subsidies for public amenities. He also requested data on bus ridership trends and debt schedules.

Key Outcomes

  • No formal votes or decisions were made during this workshop.
  • Staff was directed to provide additional information on:
    • Feasibility of funding affordable housing without a tax rate increase.
    • Cost of a 2% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) versus the proposed 3% merit raise.
    • Percentage of employees receiving satisfactory performance appraisals.
    • Detailed debt schedule and cemetery plot availability.
  • Next steps:
    • Continued budget workshop (Committee of the Whole) on Thursday, May 14, 2026, at 2:00 PM.
    • Budget public hearing at City Council meeting on Monday, May 18, 2026, at 6:00 PM.
    • Additional workshop on Thursday, May 21, 2026, at 2:00 PM.
    • Budget adoption scheduled for Monday, June 1, 2026, at 6:00 PM.

Meeting Transcript

Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Alan Joyce, Mayor of Winston. It's my pleasure to call to order this meeting of the Western City Council meeting as a committee of the whole to commence the discussion of our annual budget and take some actions. We're also happy to have with us representatives of UNC School of Government. Glad to have you with us today as well. Would you call the role, please, Madam Clark? Councilmember Joyner. Present. Councilmember Clark. Here. Councilmember Andrew Bowen. Here. Councilmember Scipio. Present. Mayor Pro Tim Adams. Councilmember Taylor. Present. Councilmember Hall. President. And Councilmember Burke. Thank you very much. Mr. Clark's chairman of the finance committee. Do you want to take it and run with it now? Or yeah, I just have one question for the mayor, though, before we start. Do you know where your rubber signature stamp is? I got it. That's how Pollett Mountain lost all their money. Oh. You didn't see that in the paper. I don't really think the mayor's stamp and was stamping checks with. Well, we signed everything by hand here. Mr. City Manager, you want any introductions? I know uh Scott's coming up here in a minute. Uh uh, yes. Uh before we get into the budget side, um, as I've mentioned to all of you, uh this the uh UFC School of Government has uh reached out and asked us to participate uh with them in a in a project they're doing looking at measuring board effectiveness. And um uh uh uh Colt uh Jensen and um Becca Fisher Gilbert Gabbard are here that are they're leading that effort, and so they they're going to do uh just a quick brief presentation to you of what they're doing, and uh then ask you to do a quick survey as a first part of the meeting before we head into the real budget items uh today. But this is um as I mentioned to you, I I think it's uh I was very appreciative that they reach out to us, one of the looking for best practices and ways to improve the training that they're doing for folks at the school of government, and so I think it's uh it's an honor for them to ask us to be that, and I know they're appreciative that you're willing to participate and do this as well. So I think as Colt, I'll I'll introduce Colt first. Uh, I think he's gonna get through the presentation. Sir, you have the floor. Thank you, Mayor and Council. It is a great honor, and I'm very grateful to be here today. My name is Cole Jensen. I'm here with Becca Fisher Gabbard from the School of Government. And the School of Government has three guiding values. First, we are nonpartisan, policy neutral, and responsive. And it is the responsiveness piece of our message or our mission that brings us here today. So we are working to be responsive to the ever-evolving dynamics of board relations and staff relations, and we want to better understand how we can serve both our elected officials and our administrative officials.

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