You’d think that when a local government freely and frequently raises taxes that they would at least have enough money coming in to stay out of trouble with the state’s financial oversight hawks, however, you would be wrong if you thought that.
The Greensboro City Council called an emergency meeting Thursday afternoon after the State of North Carolina placed the city on a financial monitoring list that will subject Greensboro to additional oversight by the Local Government Commission.
The city received formal notice shortly before 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 2, that it had been placed on the state’s “Unit Assistance List” based on Greensboro’s fiscal year 2025 audited financial statements.
Mayor Marikay Abuzuaiter said Thursday that the issue raised by state financial officials involves the amount of money Greensboro keeps in its fund balance, commonly referred to as the city’s rainy-day fund, as well as the city’s use of fund balance for operating expenses.
Greensboro ended fiscal year 2025 with nearly $100 million in reserves.
The city reported an available fund balance of roughly $98.3 million – equal to about 22.9 percent of General Fund expenditures.
In 2022, the City Council adopted a plan committing Greensboro to increase that percentage to 25 percent.
City officials said Thursday that they believed Greensboro remained on track to reach the 25 percent target under the timetable previously adopted by the council.
But the state wants to see more progress.
Abuzuaiter said state financial officials want Greensboro to reach the 25 percent level more quickly and also want the city to avoid using reserves for regular operating expenses.
City staff has already identified about $1 million in personnel savings and another $1 million in contract savings as part of the effort to improve the city’s financial position.
City Manager Trey Davis told the council that being placed on the Unit Assistance List doesn’t mean Greensboro is in a financial crisis.
It does, however, mean the city will face additional requirements and additional oversight from the Local Government Commission.
Among those requirements, Davis will have to complete six hours of financial management education.
The city will also need Local Government Commission approval for some financing transactions involving capital assets and motor vehicles that previously could be handled without that additional review.
Greensboro officials spent much of Thursday’s meeting explaining how the city got to this point.
Finance staff said Greensboro’s available fund balance actually increased during the most recent fiscal year, from about $94 million to roughly $98 million.
However, city expenditures increased faster.
As a result, the fund balance as a percentage of expenditures declined from about 23.3 percent to 22.9 percent.
City officials said that rising expenses during fiscal year 2024-2025 included increased public safety costs, building maintenance and money set aside for future fire truck purchases. The unusual market for fire trucks has required governments to commit money far in advance in order to get vehicles ordered and into the production schedule.
City officials said those expenditures contributed to the use of fund balance even as the actual dollar amount in reserves increased.
The council also learned on Thursday that concerns over Greensboro’s fund balance had come up in previous discussions with the Local Government Commission.
City finance staff said the issue was raised during a June discussion involving borrowing for the city’s water system.
According to staff, Local Government Commission officials questioned why Greensboro wasn’t moving more quickly toward the 25 percent fund balance level and why it continued to use fund balance for some expenses.
That led to some frustration Thursday over how much warning the city had received before being placed on the Unit Assistance List.
The mayor said the formal notice Wednesday appeared to come suddenly and questioned why the city hadn’t received more explicit notification following earlier conversations with state officials.
She said the city understood the seriousness of the matter but had expected some additional warning that placement on the list was coming.
Councilmember Hugh Holston compared the state action to a corporate performance improvement plan.
Holston said the city needs to “pump the brakes” and get its fiscal house in order.
He also said the situation could require “some strong austerity steps” and he questioned exactly what steps the state expects Greensboro to take and how quickly it expects them to be completed.
Davis said he had spoken Thursday with a Local Government Commission supervisor and had been told that the state’s concern with Greensboro was specific and “very fixable.”
He said there is not yet a definitive timetable for the city to get off the Unit Assistance List.
According to Davis, the city will have to demonstrate improvement in its financial performance and show that it’s consistently strengthening its fund balance.
The Local Government Commission is expected to assign someone to work with Greensboro as the city takes those steps.
Thursday’s discussion also spilled over into another major issue facing the city – borrowing.
Council members questioned whether Greensboro should rethink some planned bond projects in light of the new financial oversight.
Abuzuaiter said the city needs more information before making those decisions and noted that delaying needed capital projects can carry costs of its own.
She specifically mentioned fire stations – saying failure to maintain adequate fire protection could ultimately affect the city’s fire protection rating and residents’ insurance costs.
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The more money they take, the more they mismanage it. “Easy come, easy go”, as my father used to say.
They piss it away carelessly because when they need more, they just take it from us. It’s not like they have to work harder for it, like everyone else..
But I was impressed with the Mayor Pro Tem’s anger at this coming out of the blue. She’s right, and right to be angry at the bureaucrats (Denise Roth).
AHHHHHHHHHH!!!! THE SUN,,,THE SUN!!!
AND CROSSES!!…AND GARLIC!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHH
NO NO…NOT THE STAKES…NOT THE STAKES!!!
Meanwhile, the Board of Commissars are cringing in their coffins.
I have an easy solution: Stop spending more money than you bring in.
You’re welcome, city council.
(By the way, don’t forget that they paid some firm countless thousands of dollars to come up with “You’re Welcome” as a city slogan. Also Trey is now paying an outside firm countless thousands of dollars to look at how the city is spending money. That’s insane. STOP SPENDING MONEY.)
For more people than ever, they are living past their means. This is especially hard on people with fixed incomes; coupled with aging and rising medical costs, it is a disaster. Look at your utility and insurance bills lately? TAXES?
The real culprit is the electorate. People continue to vote themselves a free lunch. So our representatives in Washington give it to us so they can get (re)elected. Where dodah the money come from? The Fed just prints it. So inflation cancels out all that free stuff, and then some.
I’m preaching to the choir. We just a bigger choir.
Yes, Miller, you can get an Amen!
When a city manager is required to go to financial education classes that shows you he has no clue what he is doing. This is what you get previous city council. He is woefully unqualified. Ms. Roth knows it. Scott, you failed to mention how she was restrained but wanted to go nuclear. She was pissed. 5 votes to get him out. Davis has always had other people do his work. Smooth talker over his head.
So perhaps bloated salaries, too many employees in the legal department, reduction of funding to NGO’s, better tax collections from industries at a reasonable level, overall better fiscal responsibility. This is so long overdue, as they thing we are just a piggy bank to be cracked open at will. I hope the state puts the clamps on things in a way that prevents future excess. The people that have been being elected are just irresponsible and incapable. Time for a change. I hope the recall is successful.
The Emergency Meeting is to finagle around the intent of the law to get what they want. This is what the electorate in Guilford County who didn’t bother to show up for the last election allowed to happen.
Miller you hit the proverbial nail on the head when you said people did not show up to vote. This is one of the big problems we are facing. The majority of the registered voters just don’t seem to care about how our representatives get elected and whether or not they are qualified to do the job. Those who or too lazy to vote don’t need to complain about how things are run.
They just can’t be bothered to stand in line an hour or two, so they don’t go. We are saddled with them. Majority-not-rule.
Boy was I naive to think the loose leaf collection program change would have brought the budget in line.
hahahhah this would be really funny if it didn’t have a lot of truth to it, perfect example of how these non professionals attempt to run a multi-million business like Greensboro. They hire more people in the office, most of which have no real experience, and when they get in trouble OR need help, they have to bring a company in to try and bail them out. They waste so much money, the downtown is dirty, uninviting, still how graffiti on S.Elm St from the BLM movement, people sleeping everywhere, shootings and mass groups of people at night looking for trouble.
And talking about balancing the budget by taking money from pension plans ??? If management is not changed and experienced people hired to do THE WORK instead of an outside firm, Greensboro will fail. One last thing, I sure hope the “weather man ” they hired has been saving his money cause he would be one of the first to go!!
Name something our govt does well.
The city manager talks about accountability . If this is true, he will tell Larry Davis to retire immediately or be fired. Jon Decker should be fired too. Both have been overseeing the city’s budget and finances for years. They are either ignorant or incompetent. But, if the past is any guide, both will be praised for their work and given big raises.
Perhaps they spoke up about the city spending like a drunken sailor and nobody listened… but I highly doubt it!
In all fairness, the problem was inherited from the actions of at least three city councils prior to this one, but the lack of transparency and communication between the City Council and City Manager’s office is shocking. The tension between Denise Roth, the Mayor, and the city managers exposed a stress crack that appeared due to a lack of awareness on Marikay’s part about financial hazards for the city. Being on the Unit Assistance List to have finances monitored by the state is an embarrassment. GSO and Rocky Mount, NC are now playing on the same field of dreams!
People need to be fired.Inexcusable stat of affairs.
The voters can fire them…..if they bother to show up for the election.
I would like to know how much of taxpayer’s money went illegals.
Our govt will find it difficult to explain this away, so the query is illegal.
I bet the 1 million earmarked in contract in contract savings is gonna get pulled from the police and the fire department. The two departments you have down to the bare bone now. The two departments that are more important than minority women businesses or whatever you call it now.. Any number of the newly implemented feel good, good intentions, paving companies policies that require hiring new people constantly. Refund the police and fire company get back to essential services. The service is You were elected to supply.
Thank you Councilman Holston….on target.
The current Mayor, City Manager, and City Council are caught in a trap laid for them by the previous administration, and what I would say was extremely poor hiring practice and possibly a DEI hiring fiasco.
This is a problem created by the City Council for sure — but not this council. The agreement to hold a 25% fund balance traces back to the infamous Taiwo “Tai” Jaiyeoba’s short presence as City Manager. From what I see, looking around, the LGC had suggested that the city move to 25%, but that was not a requirement. The LGC has no authority to make the city do anything. Only two cities in the state have that much as their agreed minimum balance: Cary 33% and Wilmington 25%. Other cities are not nearly as aggressive. The cities of Charlotte at 16%, Raleigh at 14%, Winston-Salem at 16%, and Asheville at 15% are more than the norm. Had Greensboro promised 15% to 19%, the 22.91% would be considered outstanding — and a healthy city financially. So, looking at this, what I see are cities that have experienced City Managers who understood it’s better to under-promise and then outperform than to risk setting such an aggressive target and over-promising and then underperforming.
In the end, this balance is all about spending. The LGC wants three months’ worth as the reserve amount, and that is considered ideal. Greensboro is now being singled out for failing to meet this goal they stupidly agreed to — but not because it is in trouble. Charlotte, Raleigh, and Winston-Salem have less than two months’ agreed reserve, and nobody seems to care.
What’s really strange is that in almost everything Greensboro does, it looks to Charlotte and Raleigh as its guiding light — if they do it, we must do it. Yet the one time it would have made perfect sense to do as they do, the Greensboro City Council at that time let an inexperienced City Manager convince them that the city could just go from its previous 9% balance to 25%, knowing full well other cities were not agreeing to that much. I am sure this is a little more complicated than this, but it seems to boil down to hiring an experienced Urban Planner to be a City Manager — and now the current City Manager, staff, and City Council are stuck dealing with an embarrassing rookie mistake.
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Thanks for that back story.
This is an embarrassment for our city and citizens. We have people in government that couldn’t run a business. If you need funds in a business you cut expenses and salaries. This never happens in government because we don’t have the fortitude to fo what has to be done. We are to fat in our government and need to reduce spending as soon as possible.
The easiest thing to criticize is spending and borrowing because most of us, as individuals have significant control over both and voluntarily do so. But in the last few years both the Federal government and the State government have reduced their own resources with tax cuts and have also curtailed their support of localities. In the case of the Federal government, it is both spending and borrowing more than ever before, but not in support of localities. The State has probably actually cut some spending, but as it is phasing out the state corporate tax and curtailing the state individual income tax it has less funds to support localities and so they ultimately must pay the price. This drying up of funds will not be fixed by nickel-and-diming pet projects or other petty extravagances. In the meanwhile, if rainy-day funds are running low, remember that the reign of constriction has only begun, and will likely get worse before it gets better. Also remember that the mandates that accompany any grants by the State or Federal government to the declining support still available to localities are growing more demanding, and more expensive to accommodate. With these trends in place, it seems clear that any local services we want or need are going to cost more and we, the locals will be obliged to pay for most of them ourselves.
Dang… “Unit Assistance List”! That is a polite way of saying, These idiots still don’t know a debit from a credit”! So what’s next? Do we need to send our leadership back to retake “Accounting 101? It’s called a “balance sheet” and you always want the assets to be greater than the liabilities and the revenue to be as black as possible…..NOT ANYWHERE NEAR RED! Oh Lordy! Let is pray!
Yes Trey Davis our obviously incompetent city manager is required to go to 6 hours of finance classes.
This is what a real leader does when you are not making budgeted revenue!! This is the Campbell soup company’s CEO. He knows he can get fired on the spot if he doesn’t get the balance sheet fixed now. We have to wait until the next election.
“Campbell’s said it has cut 13% of its salaried workforce and closed two snack plants in an effort to improve its operations and return to profitability.
“Make no mistake, our results remain unacceptable,” CEO Mick Beekhuizen said. “But instead of waiting for the environment to improve around us, we are addressing reality head-on.””
Excerpt From
“Campbell’s cuts 13% of salaried workforce, closes plants as part of turnaround effort”
Matthew Kazin
Fox Business
https://apple.news/ADR2-0TdxTFCpvKM6B433hQ
This material may be protected by copyright.
“Increased public safety cost” meaning the entire Community Safety Department. 17 employees who’s mission is focused on intervention based initiatives with no clear cut accountability or targets for reducing crime. What are the metrics? Clearly a boondoggle initiated by those advocating alternative policing models aka “defund the police”.
And Guilford County approved $300 million debt to build a new airport terminal – and said no tax increase and higher fees for parking and $5 pfc passenger facility charge and grants will pay for it. Big thing missing from this insane fin ancial plan is federal grants. Carly cooke said great and will get grants and no taxes–she knows nothing about grants. Fed trans grants are not for new terminal that is not needed.
Raise parking fees and small passenger fee and pretend that is enough and when they raise fees on the airlines they will fly away and a terminal to nowhere except debt. Why are these spending fees meetings in secret? I love GSO and hate to see failed math lose for all of us.
Guilford County needs to have a lot more General Greene and a lot less DEI, tax and spend, leftist democrats. But hey, apparently that’s who the voter base here is now.
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All politics is racial.
42 per cent of Greensboro’s population is black. 83 per cent of black voters are Democrats or lean Democratic (Pew Research Center).
Republicans don’t have a chance of overcoming that.
The only solution I can think of is to leave the County, which I have done.
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I had to leave a country, Charles.
The Left has infiltrated every aspect of society in the UK, and the only answer was emigration.
I don’t want to see the US go down the same road, but evil is strong.
There is nowhere else to go. Perhaps you could keep a low profile in some Banana Republic. Ecuador is gone.
There is only one other solution I can think of, but you have to be willing to die for it, just as our Founding Fathers did.
Or, if you have lots of cash, you can move to a place like Switzerland or Lichtenstein, and get a local passport.
Out in the open now for all to see. Maybe just maybe next election even this councils supporters will finally tire of it. But could enough voters support fiscal conservatives? In Greensboro?
No.
Demographics determine democracy.
Sad, but true.
The city manager is required to take some financial classes? Is he not qualified and just happily promoted?
This clown show is now a proven embarassment. Will citizens wake up and chose qualified people to govern or just continue the voting pattern the city has had for the last decade? We definately have FUBAR on a continuing basis with the current clowns pretending to have citizens best interest at heart. The joke is no longer funny.
Also, a situation where the Council has no experience running a business and managing business. In the Business when expenses start exceeding revenue you cut expenses starting with head ount. That’s where the bucks are.
How can all these people act like they are so surprised by this? They voted on the budget that should have indicated this much. Either they blindly voted on the budget, or the city manager didn’t tell them the fund balance was that low. Either way, it will remain business as usual, I’m sure, with no accountability.
I recall reading that the city manager hired two assistants when he already had one or more. As any business person knows, personnel (or whatever they are call it now) represents at least 60% of overall expenses.
That’s where the cuts need to happen. In the city managers office. Also departments like the PD can abstain from promoting or eliminate assistant chief and captain positions. The city is top heavy. Watch the $20 hour positions get cut first.
This is a bit crazy but no real surprise given how GSO throws money around, I.e., International Civil Rights Museum.
In the corporate world when expenses start outpacing revenue to take immediate and decisive decisions. The first one is usually reduce headcount. It’s normally your most costly expense.
AI has < 'headcount'. tear out circuits ?