According to an article in yesterday’s News & Record, the City of Greensboro is up against an $11.2 million budget deficit. From the article,
The city will have to give up something big — bond projects, city services or something else — to close an estimated $11.2 million budget deficit.
A previous post on this site highlighted that the city provided less money to its annual street resurfacing program which has led to worsening road conditions and an increased number of potholes. From that same post the manager of the city’s street maintenance program said,
“Quite honestly, we’re not able to provide the same level of service as in the past.”
If more cuts are made that take away from road maintenance you might want to trade your car in for a truck or SUV as one can only expect that driving in Greensboro will get a lot bumpier.
The current council has already expressed that they want to see a flat budget for the third year in a row, but it is evident that heavy sacrifices will have to be made.
Who is getting fired? What bond project(s) is getting scaled back or cut completely? What general maintenance will get ignored? And that’s just the start.
Remember a couple years ago when cutting $400,000 worth of landscaping fees from the budget came up? If not, give this a read as a refresher.
Mayor Bill Knight was a finance guy by trade and frequently said on throughout his campaign that he thought there was fat in the budget. Time will tell if that is the case… and it is highly likely that not everyone will like the cuts that are likely forthcoming.
