City Council - Regular Meeting

One.

Good evening everyone. This is High Point Mayor Sel Jefferson convening a regular meeting of the High Point City Council. Here with me on the dash, we have every member of council present save our mayor pro Tim Monica Peters. Uh before we move into the meeting and adopt our agenda officially, we're going to ask uh that you all join us for a pledge of allegiance. And sorry, backwards. Ask that you join us for a moment of silence, then the pledge of allegiance. Thank you. Amen. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

We've got a uh full agenda for this evening, but before we move into it, we'll have to have a formal adoption of set agenda. Is there a motion? So move. Second. There's a motion made by council member Holmes, second by council member Andrew. Any discussion on the motion to adopt our agenda? Hearing none. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. Any against?

The eyes have it. And our agenda is adopted. We've got a number of proclamations that we're going to do this evening. And uh I'm excited because they're some of my favorite. Uh and before you start judging me, I don't say that every single meeting, y'all. These are really really some of my favorites. The joke is that I say that every meeting. So just FYI. All right. Uh let's see. We've got children's mental health awareness. Uh, and we've got a number of folks here from the Kellen Foundation to join us for this proclamation. So, I'm going to invite up Melanie Gardner, Lillian Wingfield, and Alex Espatia. And I want to make sure that I did not butcher that last name too badly. Alex, how how do you say your last name?

Eskeia.

Okay, I did butcher it. Alex Eskeia. Um, is there anyone else from y'all's team who you want here for Children's Mental Health Awareness Month? Okay. All right. We're good seeing y'all. Absolutely. If it ain't Jesus calling. No, I'm kidding. That's what my grandma used to say. All right. Whereas good mental health is a key component in a child's healthy development and children's mental health week provides the opportunity to focus on this important matter while celebrating the accomplishments and resilience of children and families affected by mental health concerns. And whereas according to United States Department of Health and Human Services, one in five children is diagnosed with a mental health condition. And whereas the Kellen Foundation is a nationally recognized child mental health center in Guilford County and partners with the Resilient Guilford Network, Resilience High Point, the Guilford County System of Care Collaborative, Guilford County Schools, and over a dozen mental health agency partners to promote and educate the community about children's mental health needs and their families, which is fundamental to the future of High Point and its well-being. And whereas research has shown early identification and appropriate treatment of mental health disorders among children and adolesccents provide them with better opportunities to lead full and productive lives. And whereas children and youth with mental health challenges and their families benefit from access to timely services and support that's family driven, you've got it and culturally appropriate. They also benefit from the integration of behavioral health and primary care, education, and child welfare. And whereas it is important that children and adolescence along with their families and communities learn about warning signs of mental health disorders and where to obtain necessary assistance and treatment. And whereas it is the

community's responsibility to ensure that comprehensive, diverse, and culturally coordinated mental health services are recognized for all children. And therefore, I, Serial Jefferson, mayor of the city of High Point, do hereby proclaim the month of May 2026 as children's mental health awareness month, call upon all of our citizens within this community to recommmit to increase awareness and understanding of mental illness, approve the array of mental health services for people of all ages, and ensure that those who are struggling that they are not alone. Can we please celebrate the incredible folks here? He's here. Okay, Councilman Harmon, you've been requested to come on down. Okay. giving your role with Resilience High Point, one of the partners here.

And uh we don't have anyone from Guilford County Schools here, do we? From Guilford County Schools, are you? Well, come on up. You Oh, you don't want to?

Okay. Guilford County Schools is in the building, y'all. And they don't want to come up. Um anyone else here from Let's see. Brazilian Guilford Network. Okay. All right. We're going to take this photo. You want us to slide down a little bit? Yeah. Okay. here. Count two. One, two, three. All right. I had the privilege of visiting um family room not too long ago to learn about the great work that this team is doing with regards to addressing those who are in foster care. And for that I want to invite up the team from Family Room Triad, their staff and their board members who are here with us. We have Carrie Thompson, executive director, Anna Skinner, operations manager, Amelia Brady. Did I say Anna? Emma, Emma, I'm sorry, my bad. Uh, Ameilia Brady, development manager. Danielle Campbell, board member. And are there any other board members here from family room trib?

Yeah, I'm a volunteer. Okay, Zack, come on, Zach. How are you?

Good. Sorry about that. Whereas children and youth enter foster care through no fault of their own, often as a result of abuse, neglect, or family crisis, and may arrive in new homes with little more than a clothes on their backs, facing uncertainty during one of the most difficult times in their lives. And whereas the foster care system exists to provide safety, stability, and support, or working toward reunification with families when possible, or finding permanent loving homes. And whereas foster parents, kinship caregivers, and adoptive families show extraordinary compassion and commitment by opening their homes, often on short notice, to care for children in need. And whereas organizations such as family room, other triads serve as a critical and immediate support system by providing essential resources at no cost, including beds, clothing, car seats, diapers, food, and other necessities, ensuring that our children have what they need from their first day in care. And whereas these efforts meet basic needs and create a safe, welcoming environment where children feel valued, supported, and cared for by their community. And in the past year, hundreds of children in our community have entered foster care. And organizations like Family Room have served hundreds more by providing essential items and support. And whereas foster care awareness month provides an opportunity to recognize the strength and the resilience of children in foster care, honor the dedication of foster families, and encourage the community to step forward. It's not everyone can foster, but everyone can help in some way. And whereas the city of High Point values strong partnerships between local government, community organizations, and residents to ensure that every child has

the opportunity to grow up in a safe, stable, and nurturing environment. Now therefore, I, Serial Jefferson, mayor of the city of High Point, do hereby proclaim the month of May 2026 as foster care awareness month, encourage all residents to learn more about foster care, support foster families, and work together to ensure that every child has a safe and nurturing place to call home. Can we please celebrate the incredible folks doing the work? One, two, three.

Be extra. Last one. One, two, three.

Thank you. at 1:30. Okay. All right, y'all. It's my favorite uh visit High Point and uh I'm excited because Mel's brought her team with her. Will y'all please celebrate um after I call all their names, Melody Bernett, who's president, CEO, Nancy Bowman, who's vice president of awesome stuff. Uh and then board member and actually board chair elect Lindo. Uh and if there's any other tourism partners, oh, Christina, of course, is in the room. And anyone else here from Visit High Point? Any other board members?

It's aftermarket. Everybody's tired.

Okay. Okay. Please celebrate the visit highpoint team as they come up. Please please please. All right. This is for National Travel and Tourism Week. Whereas the travel and tourism industry is essential to the economic vitality, development, and workforce of High Point, North Carolina. And whereas travel is a $3 trillion industry nationwide, supporting more than 15 million American jobs and generating significant state and local tax revenues that fund critical services. And whereas travel supports a wide range of industries including manufacturing, healthcare, agriculture and education by driving innovation, business growth and connectivity. Whereas High Point's distinction as the home furnishings capital of the world generates substantial economic impact through the bi-anual High Point market, the largest home furnishings trade show in the world. And whereas tourism in Guilford County generated approximately 1.79 billion with a B in visitor spending in 2024, supporting nearly 12,000 jobs and contributing over $118 million in state and local tax revenues. And whereas High Point continues to grow as a dynamic destination through attractions, events, and experiences that enhance quality of life and support local businesses while earning national recognition as the first certified autism destination on the East Coast and attracting visitors through unique public art, including Thomas Damble's sculpture known as Little Sally. Now therefore, I, Seriel Jefferson, mayor of the city of High Point, do hereby proclaim the week of May 3rd to May 9th, 2026 as National Travel and Tourism Week in the city of High Point and urge all

residents to join me in recognizing the vital contributions of the travel and tourism industry to our community and throughout the state. Can we please celebrate the team of Mr. High Point? Um, council has a liaison to y'all's. Who Who's our leazison? Ah, she's right here. She's under the weather, unfortunately. Okay. All right. We're going to slide down a little bit, right? So, we're going to slide down a little bit. Yeah. Yeah. We're going to slide down. You right in the middle now.

Count. Two. And then last one. One, two, one, two, three. All right. Um, here in the city of High Point, we've got 119,000 residents roughly. It's about 68 square miles. Is that right? Like I add a mouth every time I talk. got about 68 square miles of city to cover, which means that there's bajillions of roads to be kept up and pipes underneath the ground and sewer um that has to be kept whatever sewer gets kept as. And uh while council uh makes a lot of important decisions, sets a budget and policy and u we're very proud of the work that we do, we make it very very clear that we can't do work without folks all across the city. um not only our partners who we talked about today in the last three proclamations but internally our city employees. So our next two proclamations I'm excited because we get to recognize people across this 1500 some employee organization who do great work. Uh the first of those is public service recognition week and so for that um no one put a name on my sticky note but I know there's some folks from public services here. Wait, public service is everybody, isn't it?

Everybody. All 1500 employees. Okay. Can all 1500 employees please come forward? No, seriously. Can we Can we cuz I actually really do mean it when I talk about the incredible work of public service. Um, so actually I am going to ask if you are a staff member of the city of High Point.

Please come forward so we can celebrate you. And will y'all please clap for them as we come forward, please? by the long boy. We got down good to see you. Good, good, good, man. I can't shake everyone's hand. We We got to get everybody up. How are you? You know, I told someone last week that you were my SRO and they couldn't believe you. You But you know why they just they said he's so young. How How was he your SRO when you were in high school? I said I said

he's taking a picture. Congratulations. Sandra's on the front. But she got tongue make.

So I I got to admit that um when I first got the proclamation y'all, what my eyes saw was public services week. So I was thinking like where the heck is Robbie Stone at? I don't see him anywhere. And then I realized it was public service week. So it's not just roads and sewer and all that. It's literally all the stuff that we do across Casino High Point organization, which as you all know does not happen without y'all. So, thank y'all foring with us. Now, I already know Rakia is actually going to want some folks to go into like a couple of rows here, right? Okay. For now, I'm going to read to y'all and then we're going to get into our picture stance. So, y'all just bear with me. Ria, can I stand right here? Okay. All right.

Okay. Whereas

the city of High Point recognizes that public service is a cornerstone of our democracy and is vital to the well-being of our community. Whereas public service is a noble calling where people choose to spend a portion or all of their career building community, contributing to the public good, and improving the well-being of our communities. And whereas the very fine and dedicated employees of the city of High Point work tirelessly to ensure the safety, the health, and the prosperity of our citizens. And whereas each member of our city's workforce contributes to the efficient operation of services such as public safety, infrastructure maintenance, environmental protection, and community development. And whereas the commitment to professionalism displayed by our city employees exemplify values of public service and play an essential role making High Point a welcoming and vibrant community. Whereas during public service recognition week, we celebrate the contributions of all city employees for the important work that they do and the challenges that you navigate each and every single day. We commend you for your accomplishments and we extend our sincere gratitude on behalf of the mayor and city council and on behalf of our entire community for your continued efforts to support the health, support the safety, support the overall well-being of our residents, businesses, and visitors. Now therefore, I, Sarah Jefferson, mayor of the great city of High Point, North Carolina, do hereby proclaim the week of May 4th to May 8th, 2026 as public service recognition week in the city of High Point. Encourage all of High Point citizens to recognize and to honor the contributions and the dedication of our government employees to this great community. Can we please clap it up?

Can we get some folks to go up on the deck? Come on. Go on the deb. I want to find someone here to take this photo and get a picture. That's really what I want to do. That's that that's really what I want to do. I don't know if I can take a photo. I swear I would do that. But I don't listen. I would definitely

You can take a photo. Come on, Emma. You still got to get closer.

It's on this side. We're doubled up on this side, so we have to So, so can we just get a couple folks from over here? Couple of our front row folks to just come be front row over here. Is that okay? Where's TR?

I'm right here. You can't do that. Is that you? Yeah. Come on. Come on. Jump in. I'mma jump in. Right in here with y'all. I'm going to jump right in here. Can Can I split you with madam manager Tasha? You come over here and then we'll slide on over.

You got hold this too. He only did it after he shook my hand. You notice that, right? Brady shook my hand. He went and got that hand sanitizer so quick. Wasted no time. We should have good

Hey y'all. Y'all aren't leaving yet, are y'all? Are y'all coming up? Okay. I was I was leaving. Um, this next one, if you can't tell, uh, is for International Firefighters Day. And to join me up here, I'm going to ask Chief Brian Evans and everyone who is a City of High Point firefighter, uh, to please join me on the front for the reading of our proclamation. again.

Thank you. You like to go big?

Yes, sir. Chief, I got to bring you to the center. Chief, I'm bring the city of High Point was incorporated in 1859 and the High Point Fire Department was founded in 1890, marking over 135 years dedicated fire protection and public safety for our city citizens. Whereas firefighters dedicate their lives to the protection of life and property and sometimes that dedication is in the form of countless hours volunteered over many years and others it is many selfless years working in the industry. And whereas International Firefighters Day is observed each year on the 4th of May where the community can recognize and honor the sacrifices that firefighters make to ensure that their communities and environment are as safe as possible. It is also a day in which current and past firefighters can be thanked for their contributions. And whereas the demands of firefighting are accompanied by both personal and physical tolls that all firefighters knowingly accept while risking their lives to protect the lives of others. Whereas the city of High Point fire and emergency personnel demonstrate immense dedication through constant training, responding to emergencies at all hours and providing vital services to our city. Now therefore, I, Sel Jefferson, mayor of the great city of High Point, North Carolina, do hereby proclaim May 4th, 2026 as International Firefighters Day. In

the city of High Point, encourage all citizens to recognize and to thank the brave firefighters, past and present, who serve our community. Can we please give these incredible GENTLEMEN All right. Do you want us to try it down here or you want to What do you want us to do?

Okay. So, we're going to do two two rows just right down here on the floor. So, if you are a front row person, just come to the front row. Um, and if you're a back row person, just stay in the back row. That's all you got to do. That's the easiest way to say it.

I am going to cut a little room right here cuz And chief chief. Yeah. Chief, I want to hand it to you. So, I'm ask Chief to come up a little bit. I say front row person and back row person because if not HR will come have me hemmed up if I say anything different.

Can everybody see the lights in? Okay. Can Can we see you? Make sure we can see. Make sure we can see you there. Yeah. Make sure we can see there. Hold on. Let me turn straight.

One, two, three. Awesome. Thank you. Thank you. What don't they?

You know, Madam Manager, I was thinking at first when I saw everyone in council chambers, I said, "Man, this is a full crowd." Um, I didn't realize everyone was such a big fan of Star Wars as me, but Damon, I had to try it. May the fourth be with you guys.

Um, next on our agenda is public comment period. And thank you all again um for the great great work that everyone does to make our community a better place. And we truly do appreciate you. for public comment period. Folks who have signed the register to speak shall be taken in the order in which they are listed. Others who wish to speak and haven't signed in, you'll still get a chance to just after we call what's on our register. Persons addressing council are asked to limit their comments 3 minutes. Council will be or sorry, citizens will be asked to come to the podium here. State your name, your address, and the topic I'm plann on on which you plan to speak. Ask that you do address council in your comments. And uh first on our list is Nate McKenna. Uh, good evening. My name is Nate McKenna. Uh, first want to thank the mayor, city manager, city council for recognizing today is International Firefighters Day. I've been a proud resident of High Point since 1995. I graduated from Andrews High School in 99 and Appalachin State University in 2004. I'm a member of the athletic hall of fame at both schools for my accomplishments. After a small stint in the NFL, I returned home to High Point because I wanted to serve the community that helped me achieve my personal goals. My family and I live here in High Point now, Ward Six. We pay our taxes here. Our kids go to school here. We spend our money supporting local businesses. I joined the fire department in 2007 to give back and to answer the call to serve others. During my time, I've learned that the fire department is just like the athletic teams I've participated on. Teamwork, dedication, commitment. We train aggressively. We respond with purpose. We live with passion and we serve those in need daily.

When citizens need help, who do they call? They call the firefighters. But what happens when firefighters need help? Who do they call? I'm here tonight to ask each and every one of you to fund and act actively advocate for the special separation allowance for the High Point Fire Department. You've each received documentation and uh for this program and you can see that the benefits far outweigh the cost of the city. The SSA makes health care more affordable for firefighters when they are most vulnerable. retirement through programs like cancer, our health care on our insurance when coverage is hardest to find and most expensive to carry. This SSA program is proven for retention and recruitment tool. Cities across North Carolina are already adopting firefighter SSA and High Point risk falling behind in keeping both experienced firefighters and attracting new ones. It is also meaningful step towards parody with our brothers and sisters in blue, a gap that has existed too far along. I'm asking you to vote yes for the men and women who answer when everybody else calls for help. Thank you. Next on our list, Martha Wheeler.

Yes, ma'am.

Good evening, everyone. My name is Martha Wheeler and I lived in the city of High Point for the past almost 11 years now. Um, I'm a almost 76 year old widow and since I moved here I Oh, by the way, I love the city of High Point and I want to remain here. But over the years since I've been here, I'm now facing several problematic problems. And since I only have three minutes, I'm only going to uh address one of those problems. I don't know whether anything can be done about it. When I lived in the city of Philadelphia, I faced the same issue some years ago. And all I had to do when my neighbor wouldn't comply was to go down to the city hall and file a complaint. And if they didn't take care of the issue, they would be fined. I live at 11:04 Adam Street and I live alone. I don't have any family here. My husband passed away three years after we moved here and my son died about seven four I think it was like four years. Yeah. Before I moved here and I don't like I say I don't have any bi biological relatives here. My neighbors, they're renters on one side of me. Very few home owners, which I mean, you know, hey, I used to have to rent, too. No problem. But they don't seem to know who own the residence that they live in. And the trees, it's like a forest.

I've almost drained my savings trying to keep those trees trimmed. There's a storm came through High Point. I think it was around August 2023. I had just had a brand new roof put on my garage over $4,000. There are trees in the back of me damaged that roof. damaged the fence. And on the other side of me, the trees damaged the fence that I had just had repaired over $1,000. Every year I have to pay somebody to trim those trees. And it's not fair to me. I have to pay somebody. I used to could do it myself to sweep the leaves up in the fall. I can't do it now because of physical illnesses. I don't know whether there's anything that can be done here about that or not because I don't know who owns the house. I talked to the people, I think they've since moved, who owned the house in back of me whose trees damaged my garage, and they all they told me to do was call my homeowners insurance, which said I had to pay, of course, $500 deductible before they would even do anything about it. So, I'm here tonight because I need help. I really I spoke to your councilman that was at our neighborhood meeting

a couple of weeks ago. Pardon me, Miss Wheeler. With time being up, what I've asked our staff to do is just to follow up with you. Okay. That way we can finish hearing u the rest of your concerns and u and then chat about if if there's any next steps that city can support you with. I I'm sorry. I couldn't hardly hear that last part. Our staff will follow up with you um so that way we can discuss if there's any next steps that the city can support you with. Okay. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. Thank you, Miss Wheeler. Thank you for the time. Thank you for your time.

Next on our list is Ken Arms. Good evening. My name is Ken Arms and I'm not here to talk about the future budget. I want to talk about how you've spent money in the past. Some of the past spending that that in the last few years, you passed a 5% property tax increase. You gave water and sewer rates have gone up 13%. You gave yourselves an 88% pay raise. He gave the city manager and the city attorney a $12,000 raise. It uh the the council at the time lied when they uh said the stadium was only going to cost $35 million when the actual cost is is $79 million. You overpaid $11 million to buy the church property when a developer probably would have only paid $5 million for it. it remains a uh a property that is taxexempt and if you'd sold it to a developer, they'd be paying property taxes. Um, Councilman Peters said she was all for moving the theater to the to the church property and uh put it in the church. Well, a recent architect said that's not possible. It would cost a massive amount of money and the theater's been losing money every year. So why would moving it from a large from to a smaller venue make it profitable? Uh you you've you've raised taxes. You you had a developer that you brought in to develop downtown. Gave him the land at a

discounted rate. He failed to do his job and so you you bought it back from him and allowed him to make 3 to 400% profit. And I just want to know when is it going to be our turn? When is it going to be the taxpayers turn to to get some of this benefit from all your spending? Because you've also given employees and there's a lot of them here tonight and I appreciate what they do, but you gave them an extra a 13th paid holiday uh in the current budget which means a new employee has to only work 11 months to get a 12-month salary. longerterm employees only have to work less than 10 months to get a 12-month salary. He also said eligible employees could get up to $7,500 in a forgivable grant to help them buy a house if they stay in it for 5 years. And there's some other elements to it. So when is it going to be that the when's going when are you going to take the taxpayers of High Point into concern? You should reduce the property tax by 5% and then go a step further and reduce the budget by one penny out of every dollar. I suggested this a couple years ago. Uh and he said, "No, we got to have it." And then you went on this spending spree. So drop the mill rate, reduce the the property tax, and then cut the budget by 1%. Because that's what citizens of High Point need. and and it's and it's long overdue. Thank you.

Thank you. Next on our list, John Robinson. Go ahead.

Okay. Um, good evening. My name is Terry Austin. Um, I actually live in Greensboro, North Carolina, but I work here in High Point um, at Thomas Built Buses. And so the Triad CL CLC, which is the Triad Central Label Council at North Carolina AFL CIO organization representing union members and working families in the Petemont Triad area. Um, we will be screening candidates and um, as of yet, we don't have a date, but we will be sending out invites and we would like you all to come out and uh, participate in that, please. Thank you. Uh I'd like to thank the uh council for for having us today. Uh my name is John Robinson. Uh I live at 2113 Burton Run Road here in High Point. I've been a resident here for over 40 years. I've been working with Thomasville buses for 24 years. And uh we are members of UAW local 5287 which represent workers of uh Thomas Bill buses. And um uh we just come here to let you know that uh we are watching you and we are listening to what you are telling the uh residents. Uh a lot of our employees are residents here of High Point. I would say about 75% of the 2500 uh employees are residents here in High Point. So, um, we just come to, uh, let you know that, uh, the labor is, uh, we support you guys, but we also would like your support as well.

Thank you. Thank you. Excellent. Lewis Tibido.

Good evening, city council. Those present, my name is Lewis Tibet. I reside at 1242 Kensington Drive. And I wanted to read by memory Genesis 1:1 which states in the beginning God created the heavens heavens and earth. And then I also wanted to read Psalm 20 139 who a lot say David, King David authored. Oh Lord, you have searched me and know me and you know when I sit down and when I rise up. You discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways even before word is on my tongue. Behold, oh Lord, you know it all together. He knows all of us and I speak to myself. He knows me and he knows who I am. He knows my secrets. He knows my past. He knows my present and he knows my future. And I pray that for all of us that will seek his wisdom. I thank the city employees that make our our living in High Point uh very good because they do give to all of us. And as I I know you guys that are on this city council and city manager and mayor do also the same. And I think what I've heard so many times in coming to these meetings is let's be community. Let's think of each other. Let's hold a door for someone when we go through a door. Even if we don't know them, even

if they don't say thank you, let's share community with everybody we meet. Thank you. Thank you. Is there anyone else who wishes to speak during public comment period? Please come forward. And if you want to go ahead and come forward as well. Anyone who wishes to speak, if you go ahead and just come up forward and line up.

Mhm. Yes, ma'am. just let us know your name and address for the record and then you got three minutes.

Okay. Hello the lovely people of High Point. I am Briana. Um I am a high school student at Pen Griffin School for the Arts right down the road and I just wanted to present to y'all um the Pen Preserve Project. It just started um and it's a project to preserve Pen Griffin School for the Arts. Um to preserve the rich history of it. Um, a lot of people, well, some people do know John Coulter and his statues right outside. Um, but we have so many more people. We have so many rich alumni like Charles Chavis. The YMCA is named after him. Um, he was a war veteran. He has the Purple Heart. We have Gwendelyn A McGee. She was a fiber artist. Her work is in the Smithsonian. So to be a student and to see that I'm walking the halls of these great people is just it's an amazing thing and um I would just like to bring recognition to it. I know um Guilford County Schools is a huge sorry Guilford County Schools is a huge school district um and we don't get as much recognition as the other schools. So I would just like to bring attention to that. Um, and we just ask, you know, support from the community of High Point. Um, we plan to collab with High Point University. So, we hope to collaborate with the city of High Point, too. Um, and then I have um a pamphlet here. I don't know if those are getting handed out. Um, we're doing a shoe drive to raise money for our school. So, it's new shoes, old shoes, um, baby shoes. It's really just a way to um to raise money for our school that doesn't require direct funding. Um really just to build up the spaces of our school to preserve the actual

building itself. Um I know there's the Washington Street restoration project um with it's the city high point and I think um HPU where in the article it says Washington Street used to be the black wall street like a reference to it. And I think that's so true because we have so many people and so many alumni that have came from our school. Um, our school, if people don't know the history, but it used to be the Solomon Blair School all the way in 1867, right after slavery ended. It was funded out of the Freeman's Bureau to educate really not even just students, adults, wives, husbands who had just gotten out of slavery. And to see that it has come all this way to being an arts magnet school in GCS and for it to still be producing great students to me it just is amazing. So I would just like to bring attention to that for the people of the city of High Point. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Briana. Yes, sir.

Good afternoon. Uh I'm an old soldier with a pretty good pretty good set of pipes, so I'm going push this away a little bit. Um, my name is Mark Morris. Uh, um, my current address, uh, unashamedly is 400 North Centennial. Um, I am fresh off of a yet another admission to the, uh, Hefner VA hospital in, uh, Salisbury, North Carolina. Um, I'm completely transparent about the fact that I live with PTSD because when my ascension is complete, I'd like to serve as a marker that it is possible. Uh upon release from the Hefner VA, they asked me where I wanted to go and I asked them if they could send me to High Point. I wanted to live in the High Point Greensboro area. Um there are opportunities here regarding my next career which is going to be in K9 training and service dog uh training. Um at that moment they found me a bed in uh the Arthur Cassell Center and I came to speak on behalf of the Arthur Cassell Center. The place has been great for me. Um, not only is it a bed and a hot shower, but it's fully functional for me to do the things I need to do to get ahead. They have personnel in there who are helping me get my VA paperwork in order. And I just wanted to say that I have nothing bad to say about that place. And um, I think it's a good thing that should continue.

Thank you. Thank you, sir. Thank you for your service, too. Hello. Hello. My name is Pia Titus. I One more time. I'm sorry.

Pia Hi, my name is Pia Titus. I live at 910 Forest Street. I am a resident of High Point. I was born and raised here. I am also an employee of Open Door Ministries. And so, I see the different things that High Point has to offer. I have seen things go from bad to worse, bad to good. Um, Open Door is it's a place where you can go when you know where you have nowhere else to go. day and get meals. You have so many resources that are in front of you. And I think that the image that has been placed upon Open Door through the years has still had an impact on the community, but it also it's much more than what people say. It's much more than people actually want to acknowledge. I say me personally, I would like to speak on Open Doors behalf. I would also like to speak on Gford County Schools behalf and I would also like to speak on just High Point in general. I have seen a lot a lot of things from living on the streets myself being a a resident at the Leslie's house. Seen a lot of different things, but I don't see where there are things that are actually available for the youth that's coming up. It's some things, but as far as there's always some kind of guideline. There's always some form of something. Teachers are underpaid. A lot of us are just doing what we do. If you love what you do, you'll do it. Personally, me, I'm going to speak as a mom. I'm going to speak as a person that has had to use the bus system and it doesn't go far. I'm going to speak as a person as a woman where if you do need help you can go to this place if you can

if you need it's man woman or children it's women and children okay we have 24 spaces available I'm asking why is it why can't things actually like network together everything together because each individual organization has positive things that come from them and some of them do the same things. But as far as expanding, is there properties that no one's touching, no one's looking at, no one's bothering with that can actually be used for Open Doors Resource Center, for things to actually thrive more than just men, more for just women, but for everybody as a whole. And I would like to know is that something that can actually be done here within the next 5 years? Because it's enough kids in the system. It's enough kids who just need somewhere to go. It's enough kids who just want to play basketball, but no one's there to talk to them. Teachers don't want to teach anymore because kids aren't the kids they used to be.

Titus, thank you so much. I went to school with you. Yeah, I Yeah, I was going to say I think we recognize each other. Thank you. Appreciate it.

Hello. Good evening. My name is Tyrell Macauman. I am uh also a resident at um Open Door Ministries. So, my story began when I was living in a house by myself and I was at risk of homelessness. So, I called the VA um uh the Veterans Affairs because I was getting ready to live in my van or on the streets. So, within a week, week and a half, Open Door Ministries contacted the VA and gave me a spot into their into their quarters. And since then, I've been getting free meals. I've been getting uh gas vouchers uh to help for transportation, which I can't complain about with the gas prices now. Um there's um I've been getting uh printing help, so I can print free freely, like with my career path that I'm taking. I I had a lot of printing to do, like riding along with the fire department. I I wouldn't have been able to do that if I didn't have a printer. Um uh other than that, yeah, I I think it's undervalued because of the area that it's in and the um what's going on around it. Um a lot of people just see past it. A lot of people don't even know what it is, um or that they can go there to get assistance when needed. Um and they only think food, food, food when there's a lot more resources there than just food. They got they got long arms. So I believe you know more notoriety for them would be um appreciated. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Ross.

Thank you, city council. I'm Ryan Ross. I'm the executive director at Open Door Ministries and uh I have some residents and staff that came up to me before they came and they said, "We're going to go speak at city council meeting." And when you don't know what they're coming to say, that makes it really interesting. So, um, and I really appreciate what they did say. Um, Open Door is a is a great organization. I know I'm biased, but we do reach a lot of areas in town. We're not just a homeless shelter. We're not just a food pantry. We do a lot of things. Um, we serve thousands of meals on a weekly basis. And, and like they were saying, we now have a clothing closet for the community. We're providing meals at the library. We're doing a lot of things and um you know, the need is growing. When you see gas prices at $4.19 in the area, you know, we're seeing a lot of workingclass people, a lot of people that look like everyone in this room that we've never seen before that's coming to get help. Um and again, I guess we're all here just to or at least me and my staff and is here to advocate for the day center. I know we're still working closely with the the city managers. um and planning and zoning to find a location. But that I do feel like that is something important that a lot of nonprofits could work together on to, you know, advance um for the people that are in need in the community and it would help everyone. Um not just those in need, but it it advances the whole community because if you see homeless people sitting in front of, you know, businesses, it it harms business. So, you know, there's just the perception. So, anything we can do to to lift those up around us, I think we should be doing. And I appreciate the city council. I appreciate I've worked with Mr. Ferguson a lot. And uh and um I was going to say Tasha, Miss Logan Ford a lot. Um but I do appreciate all that you guys do. Thank you. Is there anyone else who wishes to speak during public comment period? Now, I'll go ahead and close public

comment period and say thank you to everyone who did come to speak. Um all of your comments are noted and um council works vigorously to do our best to address each of the issues. So thank you. Next on our list is our consent agenda. And uh we'll ask council to take a few minutes if they need to refamiliarize themselves with those items. When ready, we'll entertain a vote or a motion, I should say. So moved. Second.

Motion's been made by Council Member Andrew to approve our consent agenda. Second made by Council Member Williams. Any discussion on the motion to approve our consent agenda items? All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I.

Any against? The eyes have it. And our consent agenda is approved. Under general business, first item is item 2026-133. This is consideration of the FY2026 2027 proposed budget presentation establishment of our public hearing dates. Council's requested to consider a presentation establish a hearing date and establish following dates for budget work sessions that is May 11th, May 20th, and May 27th. Um to get us started, I recognize Madame Manager Tasha Logan Ford. Thank you, mayor, and members of council. Each year, we're required by state law to submit um a budget and have it approved by um June 30 as we're gearing up for a new fiscal year. And for our city staff, we typically begin working on this budget actually shortly after it's adopted. Um we began with looking at our capital needs and started hosting meetings with all of our departments back in November. And it's been a challenge for us to prepare this year's budget. um we're going through a a rebound and we realize that there are significant pressures um both on our residents but then also on the city to continue providing services. Um things that go into our operating budget that are not always just thought about in terms of the cost. Um we're looking at just, you know, asphalt, our health insurance, transportation supplies, you know, pool chemicals, all things that keep our recreation programs in and our staffing as well. Um the biggest pressure comes in our general fund. Our budget is made up of several funds, but when we think about our general fund, over 56% of our general fund budget is made up of our property taxes. That's also the largest budget that has our staffing associated with that budget as well. So, as we think about presenting a budget to council, we had to prioritize what was most important for us this year. And we started with looking at just the cost of doing services. So throughout the years we look at

different agreements that we have in place, things that council has already approved. We make sure that we start with funding those things first. Then we start to build in what do we need to make sure that we can maintain our workforce and those things are thought about and then we start to focus on what are expansion items. Um there are very few expansion items that are in the budget that's going to be presented to you tonight, but I want to make sure that um there was just some context so that council could understand how we prioritize putting this spending plan together. Um so at this time I'll ask our budget and performance director to present our budget to you all. This will be the initial presentation and then we'll talk through when work sessions will be held so that we can talk about some additional components. We also have agency funding that is part of our operating budget where you'll hear from those agencies directly. Typically, they have a separate funding source that helps to fund those services such as our travel and tourism oper operation is funded with occupancy tax. We also hear from the market where they have a separate fund that funds those operations as well, but it's all incorporated as one city budget. So, with that, I'll hand things over to Stephen and ask that he'll present our operating budget as proposed by the manager. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Manager, and good evening uh to the mayor and members of the city council. I'm Stephen Havlick, the budget performance director here to present the FY2026-27 proposed budget. The proposed budget is balanced in accordance with North Carolina general statutes. An official copy has been filed with the city clerk. Tomorrow morning, we will drop off a copy for public inspection at the High Point Public Library. It is available on our city website both on the budget evaluation department landing page and also kind of at the bottom of the main page where kind of major news uh is listed. Uh we also have budget documents uh available for any members of the mayor council who wish to have one uh after this meeting. Uh after this presentation, we do ask uh for an action

item to be taken and that item will set the public hearing officially for the next council meeting, Monday, May the 18th, and also approve the proposed calendar and schedule for budget review. Overview of the presentation. Uh we're going to talk about the total budget, some budget highlights, uh strategic plan investments, uh or investments in the budget that go toward these six strategic plan goals of the council strategic plan. We're going to talk about the general fund, some of our enterprise funds, specifically water resources, electric, solid waste, and storm water. Uh we're going to briefly touch upon the capital improvement program or CIP. And then we'll talk about next steps will mostly be uh that refers to what the budget review calendar will look like. Uh so before we get into the details of the total budget uh kind of this slide we like to talk you know what were we facing when developing this budget and the manager touched on on some of those. Uh on the revenue side uh the big factor was county revaluation. Uh Guilford County and Davidson County have undergone a revaluation of their property. We'll talk about some of the details of that coming up. Uh but as you've seen or heard, um that's been a big talking point and a big issue for um a lot of our residents. Uh also looking at the challenges or realities uh sometimes you can look at them as opportunities uh that we face when developing this budget. Lingering inflation, it's still we're still seeing it in certain pockets. We're seeing it level off in other areas, but it's still something that is something we're facing uh with regards to our delivery of services. Uh fuel prices uh more recently have uh gone up dramatically and uh predicting how long and or how sustainable those higher fuel prices is, um you know, a challenge uh for us to

try and manage. Uh and also salaries and benefits. uh that's one of the biggest uh expenditures in our budget just because of the number of employees we have and so that is always a challenge in our budget. And so the total budget uh $534.2 million uh the exact number is $534,193,658. Uh this pie chart just shows the breakdown by fund. The general fund in the lower left corner is uh the largest uh kind of you know fund of uh dollar amount um at 175 million or almost 33%. Uh I'll note with electric of that $127 million 75 of that is for the purchase of wholesale power. Uh this is a revenue breakdown by category and the next slide is the expenditure side of things. Uh we're not going to go into the weeds on everything within these numbers, but I do want to note a couple things. Uh you see that first line uh with fund balance and you see uh an over $19 million reduction. Uh fund balance can fluctuate from year to year in the total budget mostly as a reflection of what our capital budget looks like, which also fluctuates up or down depending on the capital needs. Intergovernmental revenues, you see another decrease there. um that can also fluctuate based on any state or federal grants we may be receiving or expected to receive. Uh sales and use taxes that includes not only our retail sales tax but also sales tax on utilities like electricity and natural gas and also our room occupancy taxes and then our charges for services which you see is the largest number out of the total budget. Uh that includes most of our user fees for enterprise funds, our water sewer rates, our electric rates, solid waste rates, storm water rates, etc. Uh similar table, but looking at

expenditures by category. Uh you see personnel and operating uh the largest expenses there. Uh operating does include that 75 million for wholesale power. You see the decrease there in capital outlay. Again, as I noted, capital for our CIP can fluctuate from year to year. Uh, and that's really what's driving that decrease there of $12 million. Uh, electric is one of the drivers of that. Uh, they had a large capital investment in last year's budget, uh, for the new electric operations center. And so with that not in the budget, you see that big drop. Uh, and also interfund transfers. Uh so interfund transfers are kind of an accounting function for how we uh budget and account for certain things. Uh also capital. So if your capital is going down uh not every time but you are probably going to see some of your inner fund transfers also reducing. Uh next we'll talk about some of the highlights of the proposed budget. Uh first and foremost, the proposed budget reduces the property tax rate from 64.75 to 56 cents per $100 of re of valuation. I will note that the revenue neutral tax rate uh for this budget is 48.69. Uh the property tax rate is divided between the general fund at 52.6 cents and the debt service fund at 3.4. The budget also proposes an 8% increase in water resources rates. These are our water sewer rates. And proposes a $2 per month increase to the solid waste availability fee. Um and this is used for solid waste collections. Other fee changes in the pro proposed budget. The renewable energy portfolio standard or reps charge. Um this is a statemandated charge that uh we pretty much get told from year to year whether it's going up or down and how much and

so we pass this expense on. There are some proposed parks and recreation fees mainly at our golf courses and at the new center for active adults once that opens in the fall. On the building inspection side, there are some fee consolidations, some changes to existing fees and also some new fees. There's a fee removal for cemetery openings and closings. And at the Engleside Composting Facility, there are several types of yard debris that can be sold. And so there are fee changes with regards to that. Uh the next few slides are going to talk about property taxes specifically. Uh in this proposed budget, the value of 1 cent equates to 1,937,187. This is about an increase of $500,000 per penny. Uh that is a direct result of the revaluation for Guilford and Davidson counties. The valuation for the proposed budget is 19 billion519,26,762 which is a 37.5% increase over the current year's valuation. Uh about 5.3 billion. Uh we budget at a collection rate of 99.33 cents. And the table there shows the current rate and also the proposed rate divided by fund. I do want to talk a little bit about our tax base. We are in four counties. Guilford County is about 93 and a half% of our tax base. Davidson's about 5% of our tax base. Uh the remaining are for Scythe and Randolph. Guilford County underwent a county revaluation. Guilford's valuation for High Point went up about 38%. Davidson also underwent a county revaluation. Davidson value went up almost 43% as a result of their revaluation. Next slide talking a little bit more mainly about revenue neutral and also

revaluation. Uh so just some background revaluations are required by counties at least once every eight years. Not many counties are on an 8-year cycle. Uh, I would say four is probably the standard, but it varies from county to county. Uh, after a reval is done by a county, the state looks at a sampling of properties to see what the sales assessment ratio looks like. And the sales assessment ratio after reval, you want to be one or 100%. Basically, your tax value is matching the market value for homes and businesses. If your ratio drops below 85% then you need to move up your revaluation schedule. That happened to both Guilford and Davidson County. And so they were required to have these revals ahead of what their normal schedule would have been. When you have a reval, you're required to publish the revenue neutral tax rate. This is the rate that would produce the same amount of revenue in property taxes as the current year, but you also factor in any average growth. And so UCI current tax base there in the table which would produce a current tax levy of about $91 million almost $92 million. The proposed tax base an average growth factor of 3.42 which is how we got to that revenue neutral tax rate of 48.69. Uh just some final background on the revalue just on the revaluations because you know it's unique. I've been doing this almost 20 years. I've never seen counties have to move up their schedules, but that's kind of the way the market is. The last Guilford County revaluation, real property grew about 33%. Real property for Guilford County in this revaluation for High Point went up 47%. Davidson, their last rebal, real property went up 17%. Their county rebal real property 49%. And so, uh, you know, you've probably heard it, you may have

seen it with your own properties, uh, that 49% is Davidson County properties in High Point. Correct. 47 Guilford County and High Point, 49 in High Point. Mhm.

And so, uh, you know, you see that increase for Guilford and, you know, oh well, maybe that's why the state came in and told them that they had to move it up. So, uh, you know, unique times, things that, uh, I haven't quite there's always a new something new every budget year, uh, after doing this for so many years. And that's been, um, a big driver of, uh, our discussions when developing this budget. Moving on to budget highlights, uh, per policy, uh, there's an increase to the mayor and city council's expense allowance based on the consumer price index, and so that's 2.2%. Other budget highlights, $8.8 million for vehicle and rolling stock replacements, and this includes several uh fire apparatus trucks that we'll talk about in more detail later. There's $500,000 allocated for nonprofit funding uh through the annual application process. And we do plan for future growth in this funding amount to be tied to the annual consumer price index changes. And lastly on budget highlights, uh do want to touch base on our self-funded health insurance program. The proposed budget includes a 10% increase to the city contribution. This is what the city contributes per employee for health insurance. There's no increase proposed for what employees contribute. The health insurance program fully funds the employee health clinic and also includes an increase to what retirees on our health insurance are paying. And so retirees are eligible to stay on the city's health insurance until they are Medicare eligible. And so if you retire with that gap, you can choose to stay on the city's insurance. What the city is kind of covering versus that has been growing at what we would call unsustainable levels. And so that is why you have this increase to uh that contribution. The next area of the presentation talks about investments in the proposed budget

and how they align with council strategic plan. So as you recall back in February uh there was a council retreat uh and as part of that retreat this strategic plan was reviewed, progress was assessed and priorities priorities were reaffirmed. And uh I just want to plug our strategic plan dashboard that we continue to update. Uh but when we developed this budget, you know, we had those goals of the strategic plan in mind. And so these are some specific investments toward those goal areas. Under thriving economy, the budget includes an allocation of a little over $1.9 million for parking infrastructure and downtown redevelopment efforts. It includes funding for utilities and also for the operation of the commercial shared use kitchen totaling about $253,000. And the proposed budget continues funding for the city's economic development incentive program under the effective communication and engagement strategic plan goal area. The budget includes an investment in the Highpoint KidsFest event which will be held by the P Highpoint Public Library. This event is scheduled for October. It is funded with one-time funding with hope that future years are funded by a combination of donations and sponsorships and will include live performances, local vendors, and youth activities. The budget also continues funding for High Point 101 or HP 101, which began this past fall, as well as an allocation of $200,000 for maintenance and repairs at the High Point Theater. Moving on to the proactive urban design and planning goal area, there's an allocation of funds for the new enterprise permitting software for development, permitting, and inspections. Uh, so this new software was approved by council a few meetings ago. Uh, but there's an annual operating cost to that. And so, uh, that is there in that investment as they work to get that new software online. There's an allocation of $220,000 in transit

capital specifically for some transit maintenance facility renovations and a fuel dispenser replacement. And I'll note that the city's local match is 44,000. The remaining is funded by state and local funds, state and federal funds, excuse me. And lastly, uh, the budget includes continued support to planning and development as they continue to work on implementing the 2045 comprehensive plan. Under the resilient community strategic goal area, the budget includes the federal grant dollars as well as the city's local match for the safer grant that was awarded to the High Point Fire Department in the fall for 24 firefighter positions. The budget includes the addition of three fire safety training officer positions or one per shift uh which was one of the recommendations from the continuous improvement report on the fire department presented back in December. There's also the addition of a telecommunic trainee position for 911 communications and three part-time positions in parks and recreation, two for the new center active adults for when it opens in the fall and one for the adaptive sports programs and inclusive recreation or aspire program. In addition, under Resilient Community, there's an allocation of $250,000 for fire station upgrades and renovations and funding for the fire apparatus replacement program totaling $4.1 million for the replacement of one engine, one tanker, and one ladder replacement as well as other fire equipment needs. Uh we will talk a little bit more about these equipment replacements, but I will note that the plan is for us to finance these apparatuses over 10 years. Under effective infrastructure and public utilities, there's an allocation of $300,000 for new sidewalks and the maintenance of existing sidewalks, $350,000 for bridge maintenance and repair projects, and $450,000 for ongoing parking deck maintenance and the

elevator modernization at one of our decks. In addition, under this goal area, the proposed budget includes the addition of an electronics technician and a plant electrician in the water resources department. And these will be housed in the plant maintenance division. And also funding for the capital improvement program for our enterprise funds, specifically water resources, electric, solid waste, and storm water. And we're going to talk more in detail about the CIP, including these amounts a little bit later and also at a later work session. The last goal area, the high performing organization strategic goal area. The proposed budget fully funds the city's pay for performance program, which is an average 3% merit adjustment that is implemented midyear. It funds implementation of the final phase of compensation and classification study recommendations. So this study included 971 of of our positions including the police department and the fire department about 68% of the total positions in the city. And also f the budget funds a pay plan adjustment of 2.5% for the pay plan and for all employees. And so this was another recommendation from our compensation and classification consultant u in an effort to avoid future compression issues. Lastly, under high performing organization, an investment of $836,000 for a core switch refresh project, which is part of the backbone of our city's information technology network. An investment of a little over $73,000 toward the city's learning and development initiatives. Uh, and this includes some initiatives in like a leadership lab, a leadership academy, some work regarding artificial intelligence or AI, and also ongoing certifications for existing city staff.

The next section of the presentation highlights specifically the general fund uh similar revenue and expense table. Um but there are following slides that kind of go into the detail but I'll just note uh the total budget for the general fund proposed for 2627 is 175,40,477. some highlights on the revenue side. Uh we talked about the reduction in the property tax rate uh from 64.75 cents to 56 cents. Uh so that allocation or reduction all applies to the tax rate that's part of the general fund. Uh the debt service fund has 3.4 cents allocated and that remains and so the new general fund allocation will be 52.60 on our sales and use taxes. Uh we currently have about a 2.4% 4% projection above our current year-end projections for sales taxes. Our charges for services, uh, our golf course revenues, these are aligning them kind of with recent trends. Um, uh, we're conservative yet we try to be reasonable working with our parks and recreation department on uh, how they, you know, how much play they may get and what those revenues may look like and we adjust them uh, to make sure we align uh, with what that reality may be. And you may have seen an increase on the previous table for miscellaneous. Uh that's mostly how we account for debt proceeds for our fire apparatus replacement financing. We have a debt proceeds amount of $4.1 million and then on the expense side we'll have $4.1 million. And then there'll be future debt service payments. And so uh it kind of is like a onetime spike because of the funding mechanism uh for those replacements. Looking at the expenditure side, uh personnel makes up about 68% of our general fund. Uh the proposed budget

includes 1572 full-time authorized positions. The general fund has 66% of those or 140. Uh details on what's going on, the details of the categories here on the following slides. Personnel services. Uh we touched upon some of these talking about the strategic plan investments but the average 3% mid-year merit implementation of the final phase of comp and class. Um it includes police and fire which are both general fund departments. Those are also some of our larger departments and so uh you just have a volume of employees and positions being studied. You have your pay plan adjustment of 2 and a.5%. another year of a required increase of the city's contribution to the local government employees retirement system. Uh this is mandated by uh the state uh non-law enforcement uh the increase is 75% which has been for uh a good amount of years in a row now and for law enforcement's an additional 1%. And so uh this this continues to be a pressure of uh just what we have to budget uh for uh our contribution for elders. Uh and then I also touched upon the increase on employee health the general fund with the majority of the employees uh it's a big driver another increase there on the operating side phone and utility costs and I'll include fuel in this uh is increased licenses and maintenance for computer software applications in our IT infrastructure uh increases to vehicle replacement and maintenance charges uh I kind of lump those into what I would call cost of doing business. uh this is just you know these costs are going up and it doesn't necessarily mean service expansions it's just you know this is what it's going to cost to operate kind of what we have in operating and also I noted earlier the increase on operating in the general fund the operation of the

commercial shared use kitchen uh in capital outlay uh the largest increase is for the fire apparatus replacement program there is other fire equipment included including some station generators and thermal imaging cameras I noted a replacement engine, ladder, and tanker. We usually replace an engine about every year. Uh, and that costs about $1.2 million. The tanker is $750,000. A ladder truck is $2.2 million. And so funding those from a PGO perspective just wouldn't make sense because we usually budget for an engine. We currently have four ladders and 14 engines per discussion I had with the police chief. And so we felt appropriate for the length of service that a ladder would be in to explore a financing over 10 years for these vehicle apparatus for the fire department. Under the debt service category, um this isn't like bond debt uh like you like Mr. Mr. Fitz John's usually up here talking about, but we do have sundet service in the general fund. Uh some IT equipment in the police department, body war and cameras and also some equipment for the interview rooms and for fire mainly apparatus replacement. And this is increased slightly to account for the new debt service uh for this uh fire apparatus financing. And then lastly on inter fund transfers out uh the transfer to debt service fund. This includes the cat catalyst tax increment financing. And so whatever growth in the catalyst area uh produces in property tax revenue, we transfer that over to debt service to help pay down the debt on the stadium due to the property revaluation. Uh there's a large increase in those values. And so that transfer is increased fairly significantly to make up for uh the way that formula works. Uh there's also in our interf fund transfers in the general fund uh our local funds for general capital projects uh transfer to general bond capital

projects. Uh this is repayment of an internal loan uh that was utilized for the sail lake park project. The general fund subsidy for transit which totals about $2.3 million for this budget and the general fund subsidy for parking which is about $175,000 in this budget. And then lastly in the general fund, I do want to note the Highpoint Fire Department continuous improvement report recommendations. So this presentation was made back in December. And so included of those recommendation that are included in this budget, sustained funding for the 24 safer grant firefighter positions. This was in the 3 to 5-year implementation plan. The proposed budget has the full funding allocated uh to have the sustained funding for the safer grant positions when the grant period ends. and also the addition of the three fire safety training officer positions or one per shift under that report that was in the 5 to seven-year implementation. The next few slides touch upon some of our enterprise funds, specifically water resources, electric, solid waste, and storm water. Under our water resources fund, there's a proposed increase to water sewer rates of 8%. This is increasing personnel costs, operating costs, supplies, equipment, fuel. We're seeing that all across the board, our major infrastructure needs for the aging system, current and future debt service or revenue bonds, as well as increases in our PIO capital. The proposed budget does not appropriate any reserves for water resources. It includes two additional positions as we discussed earlier and the total PIGO capital projects are a little over $14 million which is increase of a little over a million dollars from the current year's budget. In the electric fund, there is no increase to electric rates. Uh the only change to any electric fee is that

renewable energy portfolio standard or reps charge uh which we are required to do and it's a pass through. wholesale power costs of $75 million and our PGO capital projects totaling $9.39 million. In solid waste, the proposed $2 per month increase to the solid waste availability fee has to do with collections, increases to sale of yard debris at Engleside Composting Facility, and PEGO Capital projects totaling $221,000. And lastly, in the storm water fund, there are no proposed changes to storm water fees, and there is PIGO capital projects proposed totaling $1,50,000. The next area in the presentation deals with our capital improvement program. Uh we will go into detail on the capital improvement program at next week's work session. The details of the specific projects are in the appendex of this presentation. Um, but we're just going to provide kind of some high level uh for this presentation, just kind of the amounts by area. So, general capital totaling $5.4 million. I'll note that 4.5 million of that is funded by the general fund. Uh, sometimes we have some federal grants or some other revenue sources that cover some of those capital projects. Um, I'm not going to read down the totals. I'll just note again on transit of that 220,000 44,000 is local dollars and the rest is covered by state and federal funds and the total CIP for 2627 totals a little over $30.8 million and again the full list of projects is in the appendix of this presentation. Uh before I talk about the calendar uh I'll just kind of note uh as we have in the past if there are questions uh after you start reviewing the budget or after this meeting please let them manager's office know let the budget office know

uh as per usual we will develop a response package that can be slides at a future presentation uh a PDF a combination of the two and so we'll be able to get those answers to any questions you all may have and so looking at the proposed calendar. Uh, next Monday at 4 p.m. a budget work session where we'll talk specifically about the CIP and the fee schedule. And if there are responses to questions that warrant slides in a presentation, we'll include those as well. Uh, on Monday, May 18th, at whether it's a manager briefing or special meeting, we'll have a presentation from staff from the market authority. Monday, May 18th, at the city council meeting, the public hearing on the proposed budget. Wednesday, May the 20th, a budget work session, which will include responses to questions, presentations from visit High Point and Downtown High Point. Traditionally, we've had the market authority present at the same time as those, but due to scheduling, we just were not able to make that happen. And so, rather than try to reschedule all of them, we just rescheduled one of them. Wednesday, May 27th, a budget work session if necessary. And then Monday, June 1st at the council meeting, budget adoption. And that concludes the presentation. I'd be happy to answer any questions you all may have.

Thank you. Are there any questions from the dis or staff at this time? Lots to think about. Indeed. Lots to think about. Any uh questions, council? Okay. If not, then we'll entertain a motion to go ahead and set a public hearing date. um and to also establish the following dates for council budget work sessions as noted in the presentation. Is there a motion to approve? So move. Second. Motion recognized to council member Moore. Second recognized to council member Andrew. Any discussion on that motion? Hearing none. All those in favor, please signify by saying I.

I. Any against? The eyes have it. And that motion passes. I will note that our budget work sessions, budget hearing, all council meetings are public and um not just available for you to attend in person, but you can also watch online and uh the city staff remains ready to answer any questions and receive those comments as they come in and they get shared with council. So, thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you, Steve. Mr. Mayor, where are those be held? They'll be held in the uh they're held in the large conference room, but they're advertised by notice.

Yep. So, all information will be advertised, but it will be over in the fishbowl. So, it'll be on this floor. If you don't come up here to this room, it's right across the way. All right. Next agenda item is item 2026-144. consideration of a resolution supporting legislation that would amend and provide municipal reimbursement for the disabled veteran property tax homestead exclusion. Um council received a request uh this spring regarding regarding legislation that would amend and provide municipal reimbursement for the disabled veteran property tax homestead exclusion. Um ultimately the background behind this um gets talked about a bit in this resolution. So I'll read the resolution first and then just see if there's any questions before we entertain a motion. Whereas the city of High Point is proud to be home to a strong and dedicated community of United States military veterans who have served our nation with honor and whose sacrifice is recognized and valued throughout the city's boundaries in Davidson, Guilford, Forcy, and Randolph counties. Whereas North Carolina General Statute 105-277.1C currently provides a property tax homestead exclusion where the first $45,000 of appraised value of the residents is excluded from taxation. And whereas recent property revaluations within the city have resulted in average residential property value increases of 40% to 45% effectively neutralizing the financial relief intended by the current statutory cap. And whereas the North Carolina General Assembly is discussing legislation that would establish a framework to remove the statutory cap and replace it with a sliding scale tied directly to a veteran's disability rating. And whereas the city relies on property taxes as a primary and stable source of revenue to fund essential

public services, including police protection, fire services, infrastructure, and community development, making it critical that any statemandated property tax exclusion is accompanied by full financial reimbursement from the state to prevent local budget shortfalls. There therefore be it resolved that the city council of the city of High Point formally expresses its support for North Carolina General Assembly to one eliminate the statutory cap and instead provide property tax exclusions based on the percentage of the qualifying owner's disability rating as determined by the US Department of Veterans Affairs and two provide full reimbursement from the state of North Carolina to all municipalities for the property tax revenue excluded under this statute and be it further resolved that copies of the resolution shall be transmitted to the High Point legislative delegation and to leadership of the North Carolina General Assembly adopted this the 4th day of May 2026. Um, I want to open it up in case there's questions from council about the the resolution. Councilman Andrew, did the resolution come with any estimates on what it would cost the state? I know it's it's it's good a big question mark but um the author of the resolution did they have any criteria along those lines?

No, it's it's quite a bit of discussion happening but the the general idea is that you have legislation that had gotten passed with the idea of trying to alleviate the burdens of property tax on disabled veterans who um are are really in that group of those who receive a fixed income. And when you have that that changing um every single year, just the impact that that has on disabled veterans and this legislation had already been in place, but given what's happened with property valuations, the $45,000 cap, um doesn't have the same effect that it's had in the past. And so, um, the goal here, the idea here is that instead of it being $1 cap, that you'd have to change again, um, depending on how property valuations go, it would be a sliding scale based on that on that disability. So, the general assembly has been having quite a bit of discussion on it, um, trying to figure out where this is. And the gentleman reached out to us who has been talking to municipalities all over the state, shared this um, probably back in March with council. And I know there's there's been some emails to council to ask if there's been any questions. So, um that's that's what I do have. Councilman Andrew, I don't have a a number for that.

Any other questions, Mr. Mayor? Um and you may not necessarily have this answer. Anyone does. Um or does this resolution say that um the percentage of the exemption is equivalent to the percentage of disability of the disabled veteran? Is that did I understand that to be correct?

Yeah, I'll read it again. Uh provides property tax exclusions based on the percentage of the qualifying owner's disability rating as determined by the US Department of Veterans Affairs. So if the qualified uh disability rating is 75% then that equates to a 75% exclusion. I would not say that. I would not say that. I think the discussions that they're having on it is that it would be based on that percentage. It could be that if you're in a certain um range in terms of disability, maybe you hit at this amount and if you're in a different range, maybe you hit at a different amount. Sure. I think the general assembly is considering it.

Um it's really not in council's power whether or not they'll vote on it or not. But what council wants to be clear is that if it's going to happen, um we don't want unfunded mandates. What we do want is reimbursements so that way we can make sure that we don't have budget shortfalls, but also acknowledging a real reality and challenge that's faced by disabled veterans to support it. though there's no budgetary impact to the city of High Point here unless something gets passed at the state level that is an unfunded mandate which is the last thing we want any other questions can we add that part in the resolution

to say that we don't want an unfunded mandate it I I think the resolution in some way says it says provide full reimbursement from state north all municipalities if We wanted to explicitly say a third thing which is we don't support any type of mandate that is unfunded. Um hopefully that's implied a bit in there. So it says it in there. Thank you. Yeah. Any any other questions here? N I'll go ahead and make the motion to approve. Is there a second? Second. Second. Recognized to council member Johnson. Any discussion on the motion? All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I.

Any against? The eyes have it and that motion passes. Um, council has a special meeting that had to be recessed earlier. We have to go back into that special meeting in close session. When we leave here, we'll be back in the fishbowl which is right across the hallway. But we will adjourn this regular meeting. Um, before we adjourn the regular meeting, want to open the floor to the dis um to see if there's any announcements from council before we adjourn.

Uh, Mr. Mayor, Councilman Moore, I'd just like to uh thank all of y'all for staying till the end of a uh of a meeting that uh year in and year out is the beginning or it's a beginning process for for us uh as u as council folks and u it's a very stressful and very hard time coming up with these budgets because each of us have families and homes and careers and the same uh wants, needs, desires and concerns that you all have. Um, so thank you for staying uh here as long as you have and um bear with us uh as we go through the process and the questions. And I want to thank staff. Uh I've seen several of these budgets through the years and it is a monumental task to put together um with so many moving parts and so many demands uh on resources and the changing times that we have been through and the challenging times that we're in. Uh we've been fighting a supposed transitory inflation for four or five years now. um you have geopolitics that come into play and um it's a uh complicated and difficult thing um to accomplish each year and u I want staff to know um that they are appreciated u as well as all of our firefighters and first responders and police and public service folks. Um it it uh it's quite a bit to run uh a city um especially when so much of it is uh tied to property tax values um which look good on your financial statement but are kind of tough when the tax bill comes. Um I want to encourage each of

you um that if you have not that you can appeal um your assessment until May the 15th. So, um, you can give it a shot and see what happens. And I know that there's a proposed moratorum being thought of down in Raleigh that could, but we don't have time to wait to see where that goes. Um, we have to prepare for things as they are uh the best we can. And with uh some of that heavy and stressful comment there, um try to uh grab hold of your mom if uh if she's still with us um in your life and um give her a big old hug and thank you as Mother Day rolls around. And um um love the city of High Point um and its people are our our greatest asset. Um so uh we'll produce the best uh outcome that we can but budgets are uh targets and um things can change and uh and get better through the year as well. So thank you.

Thank you Councilman Mores. Um duly noted the holidays coming up. Mother's Day of course Star Wars day today as we said and can't forget single day de Mayo which happens to fall on Taco Tuesday tomorrow. So really excited. Um any other comments, announcements? Okay. Uh yes, ma'am.

I just wanted to take a moment and thank council for recognizing our um public service recognition week. And I just wanted to make note that there was um three proclamations actually that relate to our city employees. We had our public service recognition week. We had international firefighters day, but we also have um national police week. That's May 10th through the 16th. And the mayor has a proclamation that'll be read at the memorial service that will be held on May 11th. And I just wanted to acknowledge all three of those and to to thank council for um your support of our staff. Um there are a number of activities that are taking place throughout the organization this week for public service um recognition week. So I encourage our folks to participate in those. We had the first one this morning that was well attended. Um so thank you all.

Thank you. And um Captain Estes I believe is now is it assistant chief Estes or did or battalion chief? Chief battalion chief SDS. So congratulations on that and thank you for your service. Um any other major promotions that we need to be celebrating? Okay. Any birthdays? We we'll sing to you before we go, y'all. All right. It's 7:12 council. Do you feel good about 7:20 as a start time? Okay. Is there a motion to adjurnn? So move. Second. Motion's recognized to Councilman Holmes, second to Council Member Andrew. Any discussion on the motion to adjurnn? All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I.

Any against? The eyes have it. We are adjourned.