Greenville City officials outline FY27 budget with new real-time crime center, housing and capital priorities

Greenville City staff presented their proposed fiscal year 2027 budget at a May workshop, highlighting investments in public safety, affordable housing, mobility and capital projects while keeping the millage rate unchanged at 81.4.

The city manager said the proposed budget is “intentionally aligned” with the Greenville 2040 plan and that it prioritizes a real-time crime center to integrate public-safety data, expand officer safety tools and improve emergency response. The manager described the center as a next step following recent investments in a dispatch and traffic management center.

Finance staff walked the council through general-fund assumptions: business-license revenues are expected to remain flat, a cost-of-living adjustment is included for employees, and planned debt issuances for a downtown conference center and city-hall redevelopment are anticipated. Staff presented a set of projections that showed FY25 closing at $36.3 million; projected FY26 revenues were described in one slide at approximately $154 million with expenditures near $144 million, and projected FY27 total expenditures were shown as $160.9 million. A second set of projections presented later in the meeting showed somewhat different totals (an alternate projection listed FY26 revenues near $157.8 million and a FY27 available fund balance of $11.1 million). Staff said they will provide updated reconciled figures before the May 11 first reading and public hearing.

The budget includes targeted increases for public-safety equipment (expanded body cameras and training range upgrades), continues funding for the new Stone Avenue fire station and adds staffing to reduce overtime, staff said. The city also proposed increased homelessness services—from $500,000 to $750,000—and set aside an additional $500,000 for emerging affordable-housing opportunities, alongside an ongoing $2.5 million commitment to the Greenville Housing Fund.

On transportation and trails, presenters described investments in signal modernization, traffic-management operations, sidewalks, neighborhood traffic calming and trail and greenway expansions (including the Orange Line and the Zoo Trail). Staff said the FY27 trails allocation is roughly $500,000 with a $1.7 million balance carried in from prior years.

Council members pressed staff for greater transparency on transfers out of the general fund—particularly subsidies to enterprise funds such as solid waste—requesting a detailed list of transfers. Council members also sought clarity on how hospitality and accommodations taxes are presented: staff reported hospitality-tax-related transfers for general fund support, capital improvements and tourism subsidies and noted legal restrictions on how hospitality funds may be used.

A $2 million line item labeled “engineering/infrastructure” drew questions from council members, who asked staff to return with a specific project list before funds are committed. Staff said the line item is intended to consolidate scattered design and engineering needs and that a recommended project list will be brought back this summer for council review.

Staff emphasized Greenville’s current fiscal strength, noting the city’s triple-A bond ratings from S&P, Moody’s and Fitch and saying that strong ratings lower borrowing costs for planned projects. Staff also encouraged the public to attend a Project Preview Meeting on May 1 (tomorrow) and reminded council that first and second readings and a public hearing are scheduled for May 11 and May 18.

Council did not take any formal votes during the workshop. Staff committed to providing reconciled budget numbers, a transfers-out list and a detailed engineering project list ahead of the May 11 reading.