The $688.7 million budget for fiscal year 2022-2023 presented by City Manager Tai Jaiyeoba adds nearly 70 city employees.

Former City Manager David Parrish, who resigned July 1, 2021, received nothing but praise from the Greensboro City Council on his management of the city.  Since Parrish resigned, the city has grown by about 1 percent.  Yet Parrish was able to manage the city with 70 fewer employees than Jaiyeoba maintains he needs to manage essentially the same city.

The 69.25 new employees are projected to cost the city $4.7 million.

A few of the requested additional positions have been questioned by Mayor Nancy Vaughan and city councilmembers, in particular Vaughn questioned the need to add eight sworn police officers to the budget when the number of vacancies in the Greensboro Police Department (GPD) is high and increasing.

The most recent figures from the Greensboro Police Department list over 100 vacancies in the currently authorized force of 679 sworn police officers.  It has also been reported that the current Police Academy class has less than 20 cadets.  For the GPD to maintain its current level of staffing, each Police Academy class needs to graduate at least 30 officers, because the GPD loses an average 60 officers a year.  Most of those officers retire, but some resign to accept positions with law enforcement agencies with higher pay and more desirable benefits.

District 3 Councilmember and mayoral candidate Justin Outling has noted that while adding eight positions will not increase the number of police officers in the GPD, it will increase the personnel budget available to pay overtime.

The General Fund portion of the budget also includes a number of new positions including a new fire company staffed with 15 employees.

Development Services will add four new employees.

The proposed budget includes an additional assistant city manager and a new General Services department listed as adding only one new employee, the General Services Department director.

The Minority and Women’s Business Enterprise office adds one new employee and Parks and Recreation will add 5.5 new employees.

There is also one “International Support Coordinator” included in the proposed budget.