City Council - Regular Meeting

And one of them just starts. How you feeling? How you doing today? Good. You reading yourself? Yes. Yes. Sorry for being lost. Thank you. All of us. Appreciate it. Appreciate your work. Appreciate all your good stuff. Thank you so much. How are you today? How are you doing, Jamie Sally? Good to see you. Great to see you. Thank you for coming. Thank you. Glad to be here. Keep up the great work. Thank you. and all these good things. We're always here for

whatever city. Let us bring the city of Spartanberg City Council meeting to order this evening. Uh we're going to stand for a pledge. Well, we're going to stand for a moment of silence and then be led in the pledge. I don't see any boy scout. But during a moment of um silence, I lost a uh teammate, former teammate of mine, Warren Beal, passed away and he'll be punalized this coming Saturday. As well as this Spartanberg community, uh Reverend Sadler, I'm sure some of you knew of Reverend Sadler, um longtime uh u minister here in the county, passed away as well, will be funeralized on tomorrow. Let's remember those families.

Amen. May pro chimber, you might lead us in the pledge. I pledge algiance 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. Thank you for that. Thank you all for standing. Item three, we have the approval of the minutes for the April 27th, 2026 city council meeting. Second. All in favor? I. Any that oppose? Eyes have it. Item four, we have approval of the agenda for the May 11th, 2026 city council meeting. So move. All in favor?

I. Any that oppose? Eyes have it. We have public comments and we have two um here. And of course we do have your address, so you do not have to repeat your address, but still come up and give us your full name. Um, Crystal, I think I recognize everyone in the audience and I didn't see anyone that I didn't. Okay. And we also have Miss Katherine Harvey and she has a guest with her. So, Congressman, what

uh Mr. Mr. Mayor, we're so honored uh to have Congressman Jackson here from Illinois's first district. He is going to be the keynote at our event tonight um talking about the Voting Rights Act. Very important topic right now. We're so honored to have him here. He said he's been to South Carolina a lot, but I don't know if he's been to Spartanberg yet. So, we've been giving him a tour and I'd love for him to make a couple remarks. Sure. Sure. You heard the little beep goes off, so you have the official two minutes. No, we actually

it's a long time, but thank you so much uh Mayor Mayor Rice. Thank you esteemed members of the city council and the commissioners and all electives that are here today. Thank you for this um outstanding honor, tribute and recognition of my father, Reverend Jesse Jackson. also like to say that this is a day that brings me joy. Optimism is also a deeper reflection upon where we have to go in light of what's happening with the rescending of the Voting Rights Act, the dismantling of that key critical piece of legislation that made Spartanberg better, that made Greenville better, that made South Carolina a better place. part of our history as a succession movement, but our future lives in the fast economic growth, the coalition building, the uh black and the white farmer, the schools and the teachers that need definite relief and investments in the education, not just in the custodial services. So, I'd like to say thank you. I look forward to a better, brighter future. My father was interned just uh just over two months ago and indeed it was a great honor to be back in his home state of South Carolina where he was put under the rotunda the fourth person given that recognition but it's also a painful day to see that in 2026 we're still honoring the memory of the Confederacy. What about all of those that have made tremendous progress? What are we teaching a future generation? I think far too often they foc on the black side of the issues of the Confederacy, but not the white side. Many of these young white children need to see the abolitionists and the people that fought for freedom and their families to be erected, not just those that were the worst of our history. So, I'd like to say a very thank you, a very special thank you, and that we too are going to stand together. We're going to overturn the will of the people. It's been overturned in this voting rights amendment. We're not going back to pole taxes. We're not going back to these pay and sharecropping terms. We demand equal

participation, equal rights. So to all of you, I want to say thank you. God's Godspeed and let's have a better, brighter future together. Forward together, backwards never. Thank you. Thank you, sir. And we do appreciate you stopping by. Know you have a full packed uh evening going on right here. And maybe if um there's not too many questions, we'll see you again over at the U um event over at Chapman Culture Center. Yes.

Thank you for coming by. Thank you for visiting. Thanks a lot, Con. Um oh, proclamation. Item six, proclamation declaring May the 11th through the 16th, 2026 as the National Police Week in the city of Spartanberg. Presenter will be yours truly, Mr. Rice. And uh we got the chief and a couple of his uh as we saw a bunch of them coming in. Come on down, chief.

How you doing, sir? and on behalf of the uh city and city council. We do want to make this official as we work day. Come on down. They were taking a bed.

Whereas there are more than 800,000 law enforcement officers serving in communities across the United States, including the dedicated members of the city of Spartanber Police Department. Whereas since its first recorded death in 1786, there are currently more than 24,500 law enforcement officers in the United States who have made the ultimate sacrifice and been killed in the line of duty, including three members of the Spartanberg Police Department. Whereas 363 new names of of fallen heroes will will be engraved on the wall of the National Law Enforcement Office Memorial, including 9 federal, state, tribal, and local law enforcement officer who died in a line of duty in 2000 2025 and 254 officer who died in the previous year. Whereas the service and sacrifice of all officers killed in the line of duty will be honored during the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund uh 300 30 38 uh candle light visual the evening of May 13, 2026. And whereas the candle light visual is part of a national police which will be observed this year May the 11th through May the 16th. And whereas May 15th is designated as peace officer memorial day in honor of the fallen officers and their families and US flag should be flown at half staff. Now therefore, I, Jerome Rice, by virtue and authority rested in me as the mayor of the city of Sper, and on behalf of my fellow city council members, do hereby proclaim the week of May the 11th through May the 16th, 2026, National Police Week in the city of

Spartberg and publicly salute the service of law enforcement officers in our communities and in the communities across this country. So, Chief, thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Thank you.

Good deal. going to say something during staff updates. Okay.

All right. Item seven, strengthening community access through partnership presentation. Presenter will be Mr. Reggie uh Jeter, community program and partnership manager for the city of Spartanberg. He has some other guests with him as well, but I'll let Reggie um introduce them. And uh special guest, Miss KK is coming down. All right. Good evening, mayor and council members. Uh my name is Reggie Jeter. I serve as the community programs and partnerships manager for city of Spartanber parks and rec and special events department. And right here, KK, would you like to introduce yourself?

Well, good evening everybody. My name is Caitlyn Veronica Davis. I go by KK. Um I'm so happy to be here presenting or speaking about my experiences at CCU. Okay. Okay. Thank you.

All right. Uh good deal. So uh tonight I just wanted to speak about a recent uh partnership between our department and uh the South Carolina School for Deaf and Blind. So, uh, through conversations and meetings with, uh, Miss Nikki Robinson right here, who is the transition coordinator, I learned about a student named, uh, Caitlyn Davis, also known as KK, who had aspirations of becoming an administrative assistant and was looking for real world experience in a professional setting. From there, the CC Woodson team and the South Carolina School for Deaf and Blind worked together to create an opportunity uh, for KK to gain hands-on experience at the front desk at CC Woodson. Uh since day one, this partnership has been uh a success because of incredible support surrounding KK. Uh Miss Susan Cox right here, who serves in special education services and as KK's job coach, has been instrumental throughout the process and continues to provide guidance and encouragement every time KK is at CC Woodson. I also want to recognize the CC Woodson team. I remember um early last year I reached out to Simone Williams who is the CC Woodson center director and um at the time me and my wife had been preparing for our first child so I knew that I would be going out I'd be out of work for a couple months and on board I mean right off the bat she was she was on board. She was like whatever you need we got you. So, uh, thank you to Simone, um, Jasmine Patan, uh, Danielle Moss, TJ Boyd, Jamal Beasley. They've all played an important role in making KK feel valued, included, and supported. And so, this partnership is a great example of what can happen when organizations come together to create meaningful opportunities that empower individuals and strengthen our community. We are proud of KK and grateful for everyone who's helped make this possible. And, uh, KK, we love you. We appreciate you. We uh appreciate your hard work, your commitment, your

dedication. Every time that I've had interactions with KK, you get the same the same vibe and the same energy every time. Always good spirits. She's an amazing singer. Uh super positive. And so we're just extremely grateful to be able to have this partnership and be able to provide opportunities for um for for anybody for any youth that are just looking for just hands-on experience. So okay, I'll let you have a few words.

Uh yes, thank you so much again for having me here. I would like to talk about all my experience that I really enjoyed at CC Woodson. I really enjoy communicating with my co-workers and my manager. I really enjoy the fact that there is some accommodations provided for me even if I have a well I'm going to say have the different abilities to learn different things like everybody else. I want to show them that I am capable of doing what I am capable of doing cuz no matter what we can still work. We can we can ask for assistance if needed accommodations. I really appreciate the fact that they are supporting me and my accommodations and the opportunities that I'm about to see out there in the world when I leave high school. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it so so much.

Thank you. K. So, real quick, what KK's talking about, all schools do this, but at School for Deaf and Blind, we have a work-based learning program where we're working with 9th through 12th graders, whether they're credential track or diploma track. We're always looking for opportunities out in the community. They do a lot on campus, but we're always looking for opportunities out in the community for these students to gain work experience just like any other teenager out there. Um, if they have a commission for the blind case or a VR case, they're earning money while they do that, too. And they have a lot of support. We have four job coaches on staff. So, anytime anybody would love to partner with us, give me a call.

Thank you. Wonderful. Thank you, KK.

Before uh you go S, you were saying Miss Cox. Okay. Just before she go to your seat, I had the uh honor of meeting u Miss KK last year. Um you all know we do the annual walk and roll here in Spartanber and she was um she spoke to the kids I know at the high school but she also uh sung during that um um program that we had. So uh that's when I first met her and then when she was hired on I was over at CC and and she actually remembered my voice. Uh she may have just been kidding with me but I think she remembered. She said the mayor that's the mayor over there. So, no, I I truly appreciate that. And just uh for everyone and Miss Cox and Miss Ro, um ju just today, we had the uh mayor's committee um the mayors of Spineberg County Committee, a committee of students with disability met and gave out scholarships. School for the Deaf and Blind. There were six scholarships given and it's a panel um that they go through and choose the actual winners and five of the six came from the School of the Deaf and Blind. And in reading their bios, I think three were going off to college, two to Rochester, uh New York, and one to get Yep. Gardet and uh to to further their academic careers, but also the other ones already had a plan as well. but just an outstanding testament again to to what the school for the deaf and blind is doing and just all around Spartanberg County. So I just want to say thank you guys for what you do and KK keep on singing. Keep on singing. Thank you all. Thank you all. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Item eight we have ordinance. Ordinance

establishing the participation of the city of Spartenberg in the Spartanberg's children's cabinet. First reading ordinance um 2006-00006. Miss Marilyn, presenter. Thank you.

Good evening, mayor, members of council. I think that was a perfect transition into this conversation. Um big shout out to our team and and I think this really speaks to why we do what we do. Um I'll keep it really brief. So, as you all know, uh we are coming in front of ULS council today for the first reading and approval of the ordinance. Um a couple of highlevel points. The cabinet will consist of 24 members. Two of those members will include the mayor and the city manager or whoever Chris would like to appoint on staff and the establishment of the cabinet would also include the establishment of a youth youth council that would be led by the mayor and city. Um and we have plenty of foundation for that already as y'all can see with our um the work of our team in parks, recreations, and special events. Um so if anything, this is lining up really well to to where we continue to want to invest. So if you all have any additional questions, John Tavia is also here from Spart Academic Movement.

Any questions? I have one question. Yes, ma'am. with this cabinet. We're going to be working with students completely out of the for the city. I said one more time. This this ordinance is for it's countywide or Yes, ma'am. The the cabinet itself is countywide. The youth council is city focused. Yes, ma'am. And it would include partners um from the public sector, so city um school district. It would also include community organizations and nonprofits and community representatives. So, individuals that have lived experience um with children and families.

Mr. Mayor, I would just sort of echo my comments from last meeting and and thank Marilyn and John and the work that that they've done bringing this uh this group together. spent a long time coming to to get to this point and I think it's exciting because I think it has the potential to have real impact on on the lives of young people in our community and and uh excited about that. Marilyn, I did I can't remember if I asked at the last meeting. I know from the city standpoint um we'll provide staff assistance and staff resources but but there's really no additional financial implication from from participation in this children cabinet unless otherwise directed specifically by council based on recommendations or initiatives suggested by the cabinet. Correct.

Yes sir. Uh the the goal of the cabinet is really to be an aligning force focused on reviewing existing systems and policies, how partners are engaging and working together and how we make things more efficient for the children and families. And if that does relate back to something that um is a financial request, it would come back to city staff before it goes to council. Right. And one of the beauties of the collaboration is that many of our partners have additional resources that are available to be leveraged in many different ways, whether it's through grant um grants or or other things that can come to to the table and bring collective impact for the financial um means of of those involved. So that's great.

Yes. Mayor May, um can you please remind me, you may have gone over this last meeting, but how are the representatives going to be chosen? I see the number um of of what's possible and minimum and maximum, but what is the process of of choosing the representatives on council?

Yeah. Um I'll just say good evening everyone also. Um so for the first set of representatives, we'll establish the cabinet in two phases. So um of course it outlines a 24 member cabinet but we'll come in uh at about 12 members. The working group that we spoke to last week of uh the 9 to 10 members that have been working on this project for a year or so have collectively came came together and outlined um some potential people that would sit on it for the first phase. And then once that cabinet um is operational and able to function on its own then the cabinet itself would launch applications and uh different um initiatives to to onboard people for itself. So yeah.

Yeah. So for the the community representative process as well. So that's also a third of the cabinet representation currently and those two people um will be sourced through an independent application process. So that's something that um Sam and the city would be able to um help kind of co-arket to the community and kind of come together and select those two members for this first phase. Um and then that portion will still operate under an application process, but for the remainder of the cabinet, the the governance documents of that would outline um if it needs to fill a seat, if someone leaves the cabinet role um or if you know someone needs to come on for additional support.

Um thank you. I I do appreciate the the limit on the terms because I think having consistent new voices in in involved um is a is a really thoughtful idea to keep it keep it moving. Thank you. Good. Mr. Mayor, I make a motion that we approve the ordinance as uh drafted. Do I have a second? Second for Miss Wy. All in favor? Any that opposed? Eyes have it. Thank you uh Miss John Jav. Good to see you. Item nine, uh, fiscal year 2027 budget process overview presentation. Mr. Story and Mr. Lock, double teaming it.

Yes, sir. Mr. Mayor, members of council, I wanted to um uh briefly tonight sort of update where we are with uh the preparation of the budget that would take effect July 1 and carry us through that next 12-month period. Um there are I think uh a number of uh attributes of where we are as an organization and as a community that are reflected in this budget. Uh one is that we are seeing uh revenue growth that is um uh slightly outpacing the rate of inflation uh which is a healthy thing. Uh and we are seeing stable uh operations which also is a healthy thing. Um but frankly this budget process uh is uh uh for lack of a better uh descriptor kind of boring in that it is um it's not been um we aren't seeing the the rate of revenue growth that we are anticipating over the balance of of this decade because of the fact that many of um the new projects that are that are on that are coming to our community that have opened in recent years in our community have escalating um uh structures to the revenue that they'll generate. So, we'll start to see some compounding benefits of that uh over the next several years. But this this year, um our aims are to be able to make some modest enhancements to our programs and services, but by and large be able to cover the inflationary pressures that we're dealing with. And some of those I'll talk about tonight. I have um a very short u uh presentation and as you know many of you that have

been through this process for many years, Dennis is will handle all the hard questions and I will lay out the the the big picture um uh topics but um uh I'll just uh and we can dive as deep tonight as as you all would like. Um this is of course your budget and as you hear me uh uh say every year we do believe that our budget document is a reflection of our community's priorities. You will see uh this year as in years past that the bulk of u of our budget um there are two themes in the expenditures. One is we prioritize our people, the men and women of the city. Um, and we p we prioritize our core services uh which are uh police uh fire and our public works uh field services that touch every neighborhood and all all the lives in our communities. Um so um just some some key key points of emphasis before we dive into any math. Uh the first is that um we think it's indicative of a a stable organization that's in sound uh financial health. Uh we think that this reflects continued alignment with our strategic priorities and and there included are a number of uh relatively minor tweaks to our organizational structure and other things to better align us with uh council's priorities including you'll you um you'll notice as when we u get the full draft to you that um uh we've taken some of the downtown support operations and gathered them from a couple of different divisions into a new function within the city manager's office. That's just an organizational enhancement um to how we manage those as

our downtown continues to experience a lot of uh change and a lot of activity. Um there are no proposed changes to to property tax rates or or or household fee rates u that that drive our revenue. uh as I mentioned prioritizing our employees. It includes across the board cost of living adjustment and importantly in in this time uh the budget to uh we hope to and believe we'll be able to insulate any of our u employees from bearing any of the rising health insurance costs. um facilities and and equipment uh uh costs are are uh addressed at a higher level in in in the draft we're working on um and then than in prior years. We continue to see um price escalation with u our you know we are a equipment intensive organization that the kind of services that are provided by city government uh require heavy equipment and and a lot of uh vehicles and we're continuing to see those costs outpace the general economy. Um and uh so we want to make sure that we manage those over time. Um and so uh we are uh putting more resources into those efforts um uh proposed in the coming year and um uh we will we've found a way to dedicate some downtown specific uh funding to have some additional resources for downtown policing. I want to I want to we are in dialogue with police leadership um about how those uh best manifest. You know, we are we are

actively hiring every day new new police officers as we identify qualified candidates. We are also in discussions about uh potentially um uh having some additional nonsworn employees that can support the real time fuller more complete use of the real-time crime center focused on um uh downtown. Uh that may be an option for use of some of those funds and we'll we'll we will work with police leadership to uh on that. Um but otherwise very minimal uh growth to to city headcount. I will tell you that as we look ahead 5 and 10 years, we're going to need to to to grow u the number of men and women that work with the city. Um but we're not in a position financially to do much of that this year. There are there are a couple of uh positions in different areas to to try to address acute needs but no um uh large scale of increases of um of the number of men and women to work in the city. Uh we start the the the budget process typically on the by by focusing on on our major revenues and this is this is general fund revenue summarized into seven categories. Um and so each of the um each of the rows in the table is is a different one of our major revenue categories. And each of the column the columns are uh I'll work from right to left. The the rightmost column is what is in our current draft. When we left the office 40 minutes ago, we were uh still a

couple hundred,000 out of balance. Um but we think we'll be able to to to close that unless unless Dennis discovered something different in the intervening time. Um uh and uh based on that we are uh we believe we can without making any policy changes uh responsibly budget 59 million 100,000 of general fund uh revenue. Uh so the next column to the moving to the left is what we project the current year to finish out. Um and that is slightly ahead of um in excess of the current year budget. Um which is a good thing. Revenues we try to we try to be conservative of year-over-year and our revenue growth expectations so that if there is a flattening or a downturn um uh we don't see interruptions to our operations. But we believe uh when the dust settles on the current fiscal year of which we have about seven more weeks um that that total will be 50 57.7 million um or somewhere close to that. Um and then uh the other two columns are the uh uh the actual revenue uh from the two prior completed fiscal years. So if you look at that picture, you see um uh steady uh not headline making, not dramatic revenue growth, but steady revenue growth um in in our community. Most of that is driven by business activity um uh and uh property tax base growth. Um and you'll see that um business license tax which is tied to the volume of commercial activity um done by city-based businesses and

businesses that serve within the city that continues to grow at a healthy pace. Um that is in the second category line item there. So those first two are where the bulk of the uh revenue comes from. We also um uh in we transfer in from the hospitality tax uh fund um portion of that revenue um that is tied directly to uh uh restaurant sales predominantly um and that continues to to grow at a healthy clip. So that's what's sort of driving our revenue growth and and as I mentioned previously the things that are driving our expenditure growth are the key factors there wanting to uh attract and retain talented um capable individuals and equip them appropriately with um not just the the the uh conventional equipment but also the enhanced technology that that they can make the most of their time. and then responsibly uh meeting our other obligations over time so we don't have surprises um mid year and as we look ahead. Uh so with with that overview um certainly welcome any questions or comments or for Dennis to correct or amend anything that uh that I might have misstated. We would anticipate publishing um uh want to say later this week

before the next council meeting

before the next council meeting a complete balanced draft. As you know, it's it's our it's it's our team's philosophy that that the most responsible thing for staff to do is to put a balanced picture in front of the council so that you all may make uh any um amendments that you would like in that context. Um, I know some other jurisdictions do it differently, but I've always believed that that um um that we needed to carry the the ball as far as we could by putting a first cut at a balanced plan in front of you. So, um we're days away from uh uh from doing that and uh the three remaining meetings of the fiscal year will give us an opportunity to make those amendments and finalize uh the budget plan to implement July one. So, any questions or

questions? Yes, ma'am. Councilwoman Smith.

Um thank you, Chris. Quick question related to equipment. Um, we know that it takes, you know, easily five years from the time that we put in an order for a fire truck to receive it. We've just received the one that we ordered five, six years ago, and we haven't even put it into service yet. Um, in five years, a lot of the projects with project core will be up and staffed and um, you know, with people in them and our downtown will look different with a lot more people. Are we anticipating needing new equipment for the fire department? Is that imagined in this budget thinking, you know, five, six years down the road?

Yes, ma'am. Uh we do uh have I think in the 10-year projection that we do a 10-year um look ahead and our equipment replacement schedule and in that we make a number of assumptions. Um you know what would it cost to replace that piece of equipment today? When do we think it must be replaced in order to maintain operations? And what do we think based on recent trends will likely be the cost escalation in that period of time? All of that goes into a spreadsheet that feeds into our projection and the balance of what we call our equipment replacement fund. each annual general fund budget feeds that fund um an escalating amount. Um and so when the purchases are made from that fund either through lease purchase arrangement arrangements like we approved

yeah recently um which will cover a bundle of those expenditures or in a direct payo way um the actual cost of the vehicle itself fire truck or whatever it might be is spread over a period of years anticipated to be its useful life. So, um, at this point, the strategic plans that we have and the equipment replacement schedule doesn't include significant growth to the number of uh, pieces of heavy equipment in the fire department, but it does anticipate needing to replace, I believe it's two over the next

Yeah. So, that's certainly part of what we're expecting. And, you know, did I did I hear you say that we should anticipate an ask next year for a new truck from the fire department?

Like Chris said, because we're feeding into the equipment, the payment fund, you know, we will be coming back next year with another capital release request, but we haven't finalized what that list would look like. We are planning ahead. We sort of know what's eligible to be replaced. But then we always ask that question. Can it last one more year? Does it really have to be replaced? And with the new facility we would anticipate that equipment has now added another factor for us to consider.

The answer is yes. And one of the as we think about technology and equipment, one of the other points to to mention is is, you know, we've adjusted policies in recent years in a number of ways to um attract and retain law enforcement officers. And one element of that is broadening our take-home vehicle program. That does two things. It reduces annual mileage accumulations because you're not what what we used to call I don't know if there's a better term now hot seating of uh you know having a a patrol car be used by multiple officers in the course of a 24-hour period that puts much more mileage on it. Uh um so reduced mileage in any given period gets you some additional useful life, but it also is something that's been desired by our officers. And so we hope it is helping us to retain uh the good men and women in police department, but it does have um uh effects on that on that 10-year schedule of how many patrol vehicles we buy.

Um just to one more question related to the fire department. Um, you said minimal growth to city headcount. I believe recently, maybe in just our conversation, you said that the fire department was almost fully staffed, right? Are any of those additional FTEEs to the fire department or are they going to remain static this next year?

In the current draft, there's one FTE added in the in the fire uh department. um getting to fully staffed is um is the most important objective because that reduces um overtime and potential burnout and all of those things. But when we consider what it would take to um broaden uh the number of firefighters on a shift citywide, you're dealing with essentially um uh three battalions. Uh you know, you it's more than right.

It's it's it's more than just one here or there. uh to to to get the full compliment. So, we are we are trained and staffed and prepared to manage with the number of allocated full-time firefighters that that we have budgeted for um and reaching that point of fully staffed. That will be great and we're very close. Um and we'd love to experience that for a while um before evaluating further whether we tried to add additional slots per shift. if that makes sense. Thank you. Good council for

Chris to to just dubtail on her question a little bit. Um Megan's question um the the modest growth to city headcount is that based on projected positions or actual positions across the across the entity?

Uh that is author relative to authorized and budgeted positions, right? Um, we always have some degree of turnover in an organization with 425 uh full-time employees. We're going to have people go on leave or people leave and and that type of thing. Um, but for example, one area where we give that a lot of attention and discussion is in police. the the number of sworn law enforcement officer that we are funding is um uh hasn't been you know is is at the same level um that and that's what we would is in the current draft for you all was to keep that number of slots the same. The unfortunate reality is we're like every other police force nationally and that we haven't been able to fill all the slots that we've been budgeting for uh for a number of years. Um and uh so as a practical matter, it doesn't make a lot of sense to put on paper the intent to raise your your uh headcount in a large department like that. it it just ties up resources artificially because you're budgeting that you plan to expend it.

In reality, you can't expend it. So, um uh we we're not proposing uh to do that, but I do covet the day where we get to that problem.

Well, you you kind of followed the the trail I was trying to go down a little bit. Um because I think as we think about this budget um you know obviously core essential functions of government are one of the things that that mean the most to me um and I think the council in general. Um, so I want to make sure that the the work we've done in the past to to stagger and stair step, you know, increases in our police and fire particularly, but also our entire staff is is doing the intended work of increasing our ability to attract the people that we want to attract, but also retain the people that we want to retain. And so, you know, I think that's going to be, you know, a critical look into this budget as we think about um, you know, what we do from a standpoint of of paying and compensating our our employees particularly in those critical need need areas. Um, then I also you mentioned that we'll absorb the health care costs uh, in addition to a 3% cost of living adjustment. I mean that's that ab absorption of cost is real real money for our employees. Do do you know what that is anticipated to be on top of the 3%.

We have go I don't know how you want to quantify that question. I mean, I talked with with Chris about that and I don't want to get into the the weeds here, but I was telling Chris that we're going to have to probably move about I said half million dollars to cover health cost because we haven't been fully staffed even though we budgeted for it already, but because we are fully staffed, we haven't transferred all that money. All right, let me ask it another way and break it down to the individual. Sorry, I didn't ask it very well. What percent like on a per employee basis what percent do we think health care costs burden to us as in the city will rise?

I think our premiums nominally because we're we're part of the state plan and our and our premiums I think it was 11% delta year over year. So, we're absorbing an 11 roughly, and I won't hold you to it, but roughly an 11% increase in health care premiums that many organizations or companies typically would pass along to their employees.

So, that's that's something that I think is is another should be another positive um you know, positive thing when employees are looking at their employee experience and and and also their compensation package. Um so, yeah. Um, I'm excited to hear about more about downtown policing and and and what that means um as our downtown continues to grow um as well as policing all across our city. But but but certainly in in our downtown area during during this exciting period of time the the other thing and I and it may be in the caffer or whatever we call that document now uh Dennis um because I haven't drilled in on it yet but you know you noted tax and fee revenues are increasing intergovernmental uh revenues are increasing we have not uh raised our our um millage rates for for city citizens although there have been other you know reasons why tax bills go up. We go through that a lot every every couple years. Um, but I would love at some point, and I ask this every year during bud budget season, I would love at some point for us to see a schedule of of the projects that are coming to full maturity uh in terms of revenue contribution so that we can see, you know, the feli the felo deals. There's always a lot of talk about Felo deals and and the the benefit of of those deals in year one in in just about every case that has come before council since I've been on it is net positive to what was the previous year's contribution of those properties. But but that continues to grow and bloom. And by year 25, many of the projects that initiated during Mayor Barnett's term, for example, have come to full maturity now and are are full contributors to our tax base. And and so there's got to be a schedule somewhere

that we can see that shows how those are coming online each and individual each year that they continue to grow and escalate. And I think that would be very helpful to show um just in the in a in terms of general, you know, uh context of their contributions to to our tax uh or to our overall revenue base. um but also in the context of these projects that we're considering and hopefully will continue to consider as our as as new investment opportunities uh you know come to our city because I think that would uh put it in the proper context not not only in terms of that but also in terms of of you know the other ancillary benefits business tax and and um employee contributions and the things that mattered hospitality accommodations all those other things but but the projects themselves on the you know on a on a core level, showing how they contribute would be would be helpful.

And it it is a um uh it is a comforting aspect of our financial picture that a number of major projects have had ramp up. um uh because that means that those particular properties irrespective of any change to that property is going to generate a year-over-year increase for that whole period of time. The same is not cannot be said for most commercial property in South Carolina because of the way we do property taxes that are outside of the file structure in South Carolina. There there is no built-in um way of uh capturing property value u changes um uh if ownership does not change um you know that that it it's it's it's more of a straight line positive improvement um uh with some of the major projects that that we've had in the that have been the subject of econom economic development agreements. Um,

and it certainly can't be said about projects that remain stagnant. I mean, properties that remain stagnant.

Absolutely. And and in fact, you know, we do see uh uh periodic reappraisals, but of course, in a periodic reappraisal, the the ann the valuation change if ownership hasn't changed, the valuation change is limited to 3% a year by state law. Uh so one of the things in a developing and changing city you see is is transactions occurring as as new investment comes in which resets those values which allows there to be growth in the in the tax base. Um and so that's what we look to o over time is the the evolution of the economic development deals that we have done which all include a stairstep mechanism and secondly more commercial property investment in the city which resets the values and hopefully generates new improvements on those properties. Those are the two strategies. We certainly don't expect that our tax base based growth is going to come off of uh single family residences or or anything like that. That's not a that's not a big that's not a piece of our strategy, you know.

All right. Questions? Any other questions? Good information. Okay. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Story. You might as well stay up. Item 10, staff updates.

Yeah. want want to uh it's a it's a busy exciting spring. It seems like every uh weekend there's uh an event drawing u an additional thousands of folks to downtown. This is there's a race this weekend. Several other things. Just really appreciate the the the energy um of our staff and supporting them. Um uh I want to uh bring I want to ask um uh no Paris uh to to highlight quickly a couple of uh programs that are getting some special attention in this season um in the police department. Uh you you feel free to use that microphone if it's easier for you.

Okay. Did you need this back? seat belt. Both guys drove to work. Neither guy wore their seatelt. One guy got a ticket. One guy didn't. Both guys drove home from work. One guy wore his seatelt. One guy didn't. One guy made it home. One guy didn't.

Good evening, Mayor, council, city manager. Thank you all for allowing me time to speak tonight about a few important public safety initiatives here in South Carolina. Buckle up South Carolina and motorcycle safety awareness month. As the target zero traffic grant officer for Spartanberg Police Department, I'm in constant dialogue with fellow officers, deputies, and troopers who respond to all sorts of these collisions whose outcomes could have been different if better choices had been made. These include wearing seat belts and staying more alert. Uh these citizens are not just statistics to us. They are our parents, children, co-workers, neighbors, and friends whose lives can change in seconds. Seat belts remain one of the most effective safety devices ever created. Yet, we still encounter preventable injuries and fatalities involving unrestrained drivers and passengers. Now, as the weather's continuing to warm up, more motorcycles are returning to our roadways, we will begin to see an increase in crashes involving riders who are often overlooked by distracted drivers. May is motorcycle safety awareness month, and this is a reminder that motorcyclists have the same rights to the roads as all other vehicles. A second look before changing lanes, entering traffic, or making those lefthand turns can save lives. Tonight, I'm asking for your continued support and helping us spread the message throughout our community. Whether through public awareness campaigns and social media or partnerships with local organizations and community events, you guys voices as leaders amplifies the importance of safe driving habits. Traffic safety cannot be achieved by enforcement alone. It will also take

education, community involvement, and a shared commitment to protecting lives. But I believe together we can encourage our citizens to buckle up, put their phones down, watch out for all motorists and pedestrians, make the roads safer for everyone in Spartanber. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for that. So, Officer Harris and Paris, I'm sorry. uh officer Paris and his um colleagues will be working across this city to help raise awareness for that in this springtime season. Good. Thank you.

Um wanted to highlight one other uh quick staff thing, Mr. Mayor, and then I'm certainly welcome any questions. Uh we we do get calls from time to time about questions that relate to the topic of fair housing and I just um as we do our best to uh share information in a lot of different ways, we have a very difficult time reaching all um uh folks that are that might be experiencing some landlord tenant type questions or some fair housing type questions. And we continue to have and to encourage folks um that that are in that situation, whether they're in inside the city limits or not, to use the fair housing hotline, which is 864-5962102. And I just we're going to we're going to increase our efforts to make sure that that that that number 864-5962102 our fair housing hotline is accessible u to folks throughout the community. So we want to highlight those um those two things. That's a um that hotline is a is a place to go for information about anything that relates to that topic of fair housing, landlord tenant questions, things of that nature. Um, and we'll do our best to continue to increase visibility to those efforts. Um, certainly welcome any questions that you had.

Questions. Awesome. That's great. Make I was not expecting. I thought you guys were, you know, great. No, no, no. I have a few I won't even ask my uh city council updates. I'm supposed to start on this side. Uh

thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh I only have three things I want to announce or talk about or make a statement on. And one of those being that um I went to the ball game the other night or last week and I had a good time. It relaxed me so much. So if you haven't had a chance to get out to Fifth Third part, please go and and just unwind. It is a wonderful thing to do and you can find the schedule on the website. Also, I want to mention that Music on Main is all over Spartanberg City Facebook and it shows how people enjoy themselves. So, if you haven't been down there, do so. And last but not least, we will not be in session before the early voting starts on May 26th. Go out, choose your candidate for who they are and their issues and your concerns. And that's um want to say we don't have but just guests. No guests. No guests has left us. But Kiki is a wonderful singer. Um I have a chance to to be with her every Christmas at a Christmas party sponsored by Sparta Lions and she's always up there leading a song or being participating with the others. But she's an outstanding student and I am thank thanking you all for putting her in place here with the city. I think that is a wonderful thing for handicapping disabilities uh people with disabilities. So

thank you Councilman Th.

Yeah, I really don't have anything, Mr. Mayor, other than um I will say uh I was downtown this weekend briefly on Saturday, well for a couple hours and um it was it was great to see all the activity. Uh we had Burgers game. Uh Morgan Square was busy and active. Um actually I saw the mayor as I was riding the shuttle downtown. Uh and and that was a great experience. Uh very efficient, very pleasant. Uh very enjoyable. Uh it's a great way to kind of ride around downtown if you just want to go on a joy ride. Um but it was it was exciting to see all the the hard work that's gone into making our downtown uh um enjoyable and welcoming. uh is is certainly uh having a a positive impact. So

awesome. Mayor Pro Tim.

Uh yes. Um I want to thank uh Jay Suarez, Martin Livingston, and especially Eric Brown for the things that they have been doing in this city lately. All of these rundown homes that we've been complaining about forever. I am happy to see that things are taking place because when you live in a neighborhood, it matters. Everybody should maintain their properties. And so I am glad to see that they are doing things about this now. And one last thing, vote. If you may not be registered, if you're not registered because you're probably not going to be able to register now, but please get out and vote. Every vote counts. I'm not saying who to vote for, but I'm just saying a vote. Every vote counts. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilwoman Rogers.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um I I'm so glad we got updates from all the things downtown from the other side of of council today. Um I think you know when we've entered May and just um I I don't know about you but May is packed with activities, celebrations, endings of of good things. Um stressful soccer seasons, lots of lots of games. Um, so I just I just wanted to take a moment and I've I've heard a number of celebrations around graduations and um, you know, moving on in in life and making decisions versus careers. Um, you know, successes and and failures really do carve us in who we are as people and as the community. And I know for every successful story, there's someone out there that's struggling with someone that didn't get a grade or didn't get the job or didn't get the house that they really were looking forward to. So, um I would just, you know, wanted to reflect today on making sure that we are being as present as possible in a very busy time of year. really thinking about what we're prioritizing and who we're supporting and just taking that little bit of extra effort in making sure we're supporting the people that we care about in this community and our families. Thanks.

Awesome. Councilwoman Smith.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um Leslie mentioned the one thing I was going to comment on which is uh graduation season. A lot of our colleges graduated um this past weekend and we start high school graduations this Thursday. Um and next Thursday, Kiki KK K will graduate as will Max Hyde's son and as will my son. Um I can't talk about it too long or I'll start crying. Um, but it's a a joyous time and a bittersweet time and I'm just really proud of our city and the way that we invest in our young people. Um, my son was Kim's intern last summer. We'll have our a new crop of interns this summer working with us. And I'm just proud that we're a city that really invests in our young people that takes them as they are as they walk in and and make sure that they leave better when when they walk back out the door. So, I know I I started this journey when he was in sixth grade, I think. Um he would not take a picture uh a family uh campaign picture. our friend Betsy had to Photoshop his face into my campaign um stuff because he was just a moody middle schooler. But, you know, this city and all of you um are a part of his his entire adolescence and I'm really proud. I'm very proud of that. And we talk a lot about retaining our talent, but I'm a believer that we we want our young people to get out there and expand their worldview and then he can he can come back. But um yeah, just congrats to to all of the graduates and to all the parents that that got them there.

Awesome. Council Brown. Mr. Mayor, I'm going to pull a Rob Rain and uh thank you all for coming. M Mr. Mayor in memory of Rob. Yeah. Or memory. Not memory. No, not memory. I got some other stuff on my mind. Excuse me, Rob. Not like you're watching it right now. Somebody mentioned it.

Uh, Mr. Mayor, I did forget one thing. You know, I think it's Pittsburgh that they call Title Town. Is that right? Pittsburgh. Oh, yeah. You know, uh, yeah. Well, you might as well call Spartanberg title town now because since our last meeting, uh, the Spartanberg day school boys golf team won their state championship. The Dormund men's lacrosse team won their state championship and the Spartanberg High School girls won their state championship in lacrosse. Uh, and the Spartanber High School men's tennis team won their state championship. So, you know, I'd like to see Pittsburgh stack those up.

Awesome. Awesome. That and and and and that is so that is so true. And I'm I will mention because you made u mention about graduations and uh that and seeing KK and uh this evening and all of us may not go across the stage and receive a diploma. Um so so many of our children get certificates because of whatever disability they they they may have. And u today I mentioned that the mayor's committee of disabilities gave away six scholarships. um those kids receive a monetary uh stipen along with an award. And one kid, and I will mention his name, Daniel, excuse me, Daniel Miller. And I've known Daniel since he was probably in the eighth grade, and his mother was there. And I remember his mother uh chasing him into the school. I was out uh one of the u um persons in the car loop. And you know, Daniel would get out and didn't want to come, didn't want to be a part, but mom made sure he was there. Mom made sure he was there and she was there today and I told him, "I've never told you anything I don't tell my own sons, Daniel." And and my son just graduated this past Thursday from USC Upstate, my last one.

And uh but I've never told him anything that I didn't. I got teared up even for Daniel, you know, but these these kids, man, I mean, it's it's tremendous. And John, uh Marilyn, thank you for being here that we passed uh to to really get the children's cabinet uh kickarted. I see Kim and all all they do with so many of our young people here as the summer's about to uh start up and you'll have over 100 or so kids at at at each center, you know, participating. And you want to see a rowdy bunch, go over to Dr. TK Greg or go over to CC Woodson sometime this summer and visit with our young people that that that I hope stays. You know, they don't have to go anywhere. You can go visit. I always tell my friend that live in other states, great place to visit, but home is something special. So to all of our graduates, I know Jamie's son will graduate Sunday.

Uh from Walford College as well. And um again, I I I don't wish that he goes and he has a lot of friends at Walford and can go visit, but home is something special and and and I truly do appreciate Spartanberg as you just mentioned there. I did have u the the the deaths on my mind and uh Warren Being was a teammate of mine and college football player. We came in at the same time. He's from Monroe, North Carolina, but he will be funeralized on this coming Saturday. That's why we have counseledled me Miles with the mayor this Saturday. Also, Dr. Reverend uh Richard Sadler. I mentioned him and he will be funeralized on tomorrow. He was the um uh preacher at um Zion Hill Baptist Church in Emma for over 47 years. So um uh again just just some tremendous people um that we um you know run across and um great seeing the congressman coming to Spartanberg today and hopefully some of us may have an opportunity to go um uh listen to him a little bit uh later on this evening. But um with that being said, I do appreciate everyone being here today. Um uh National Police Officer uh week. Thank you, Chief, and your team, man, for all you guys do. Really, I mean, it's it we we can't do it without the essential services and and police is truly one of them. So, thank you all for being here. I entertain a motion.

I make a motion that we go out of it. Second. All in favor? Um any that opposed? Miss Hannah Jerry.