Winston-Salem City Council

On Monday, the council voted to approve next year's budget, which includes a tax increase. And, members tabled a decision on changes to firefighter benefits amid pushback. Catch up on what happened at this week's meeting.

The city’s current budget proposal includes a 45% funding cut for a homelessness prevention program. Advocates say "fewer dollars mean fewer people housed."

Montgomery has been arrested for failing to make restitution payments to the Bethesda Center for the Homeless. He was convicted of stealing from the organization in 2023.

Officials are estimating about 14% of the city’s budget is at risk, given the Trump Administration's recent cuts. City Manager Pat Pate says congressional representatives didn't provide any assurances during a recent meeting.

In February, the city lowered the minimum number of firefighters on duty each day from 89 to 79. The decision, which was aimed at preventing the fire department from exceeding its overtime budget, has drawn criticism from Winston-Salem's firefighter union.

Food deserts, or low-income areas where grocery stores are more than a mile away, exist in all but one of Winston-Salem’s wards. The city’s Hispanic community is particularly impacted – Second Harvest Food Bank served more Latinos last year than any other demographic.

At a City Council meeting Monday, officials voted to get rid of routes 99, 100, and 110. Each had less than three boardings per hour.

The ceremony came amid a public conflict between a departing member of Council and an incumbent.

The proposed program would include an application window and evaluation criteria on a development's quality, project team and financial feasibility.

The Peter Oliver Pavilion Gallery will sit upon the same land in Winston-Salem that the 18th and 19th century formerly enslaved man once homesteaded and farmed.