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Greensboro Eyes Potential Budget Cuts In Face Of Revenue Shortfall

Downtown Greensboro. KERI BROWN/WFDD

Greensboro city officials are looking at how they might cut spending in the face of an expected $8 million drop in revenue.

City manager David Parrish presented a $613 million recommended budget for the coming fiscal year at Tuesday's city council meeting.

It would maintain Greensboro's current property tax rate, with no changes to water and sewer fees. There would also be no reduction in full-time staffing positions.

But the city is also grappling with how to make up for a nearly $8 million loss in revenue. Much of that is due to reduced sales tax revenue because of shutdowns during the coronavirus pandemic.

According to a news release, the budget proposal includes a reduction in building maintenance projects, a freeze on new hires, and a delay for new city programs.

One potentially controversial recommendation is a reduction in bus routes, along with an elimination of free fixed-route passes for the SCAT service, which transports disabled passengers. 

City Council will hold a public hearing on the budget on June 2.

For the most up-to-date information on coronavirus in North Carolina, visit our Live Updates blog here. WFDD wants to hear your stories — connect with us and let us know what you're experiencing.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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