The Greenville City Council is holding a public hearing and first reading for their 2025-26 fiscal year budget at their May 12 meeting. Here’s what you need to know about the upcoming budget before it passes. 

The City of Greenville is considering an operating budget with $146,391,200 in revenue and $150,425,935 in expenses, anticipating a roughly $4 million deficit that it will make up for using reserves. 

WHERE YOUR MONEY GOES

More than 40% of the upcoming year’s budget will go toward public safety, with 27% ($40.2 million) going toward police services and 15% ($22.3 million) going toward the fire department. 

Included in the police budget for the upcoming fiscal year is funding for two additional traffic officers, 1 additional warrant officer, and 1 new neighborhood engagement team officer. 

The additions come as the City of Greenville crime rate is at its lowest in the last 10 years, according to City Manager Shannon Lavrin.  

“Last year property crimes were down in every category and the police department’s clearance rates are nearly double the national average —72% for violent crimes 27% for property crimes,” Lavrin told the city council at their April 12 budget workshop.

The fire department will also be adding positions, with the department looking to restore positions cut during the COVID pandemic. The city adds to plan 3 new fire specialists and 2 additional firefighters, as well as upgrading emergency radio systems.

“The radio upgrades will help improve coordination, enhance safety, and ensure seamless communication in critical moments when seconds count,” Lavrin said.

The next largest proposed expenditures come from the Public Works Department, at $17.7 million or 12% of the budget, followed by the Parks and Recreation Department at $13.6 million or 9% of the budget.

No other department is projected to cost taxpayers more than $7.5 million in the next fiscal year.

HOW THE CITY FUNDS ITSELF

The majority of Greenville’s proposed revenue will come from property taxes, projected at $71.9 million for the next fiscal year. That figure is a 11% jump from last year’s property tax total, which accounted for the $64.4 million of the city’s $138 million in revenue during the 2024-25 fiscal year. 

The increase in expected property tax revenue comes from an anticipated increase in assessed property values, following on increased assessments within the county.

License and permit fees make up the next biggest revenue source for the city, at a projected $52.7 million for the coming year. That represents an increase from the current year’s figures, which are at $49,5 million, however it’s less than the projected $53.2 million the city projected.

The next biggest revenue source will come from transfers from the city’s other funds, anticipated at $14.6 million for the 2025-26 year. 

WHAT IT MEANS FOR RESIDENTS

The budget as proposed would increase the city’s solid waste fee by $3 per month, increase the wastewater base monthly by 3.1%, and increase the stormwater annual fee by 3.1%, all of which would become effective July 1, 2025.

The city’s millage rate — which is the amount of tax per $1,000 of assessed property value — would remain at 81.4 mills and the business license tax rate would remain flat. 

The proposed budget would also create the Department of Project Management and the Department of the Greenville Zoo, as well as rename the Office of Management and Budget to Finance Department.

The $150 million budget, divided among the roughly 42,000 households in the city, represents Greenville providing an average of $298 per household per month for all its services in the upcoming fiscal year.

COVID RECOVERY

The latest budget also shows the city is rebounding from losses during the COVID pandemic. In the 2022-2023 fiscal year Greenville’s revenues dropped to $115.1 million from $136.1 million the previous year. 

Since then, revenues have increased by an average of $10 million in each of the following three years, culminating in $146.5 million in revenue for the 2025-26 fiscal year. The city has also had to dip into its reserves less and less each of the last three years, from $9.8 million appropriated in fiscal year 2023-24 down to just $4 million in the proposed budget.

OTHER NOTABLES

The city will spend more than $10 million across several departments and funds on affordable housing and homelessness in the proposed 2025-26 budget. That includes its investment in the Greenville Housing Fund, land purchases for property, and contributions through the community development team and infrastructure investments. 

Greenville will also spend $500,000 on traffic calming measures in the upcoming budget, double what it budgeted for the 2024-25 fiscal year. Part of that includes investment in the city’s Intelligent Transportation System, which is designed to improve traffic flow and safety by prioritizing emergency vehicles and transit vehicles at traffic signals.

WHAT’S NEXT

Upon second reading, expected at the city’s May 19 meeting, the budget will become effective July 1, 2025.