City Council approves Greenville Utilities Commission pay raise

GREENVILLE, NC (WNCT) — The City of Greenville and the Greenville Utilities Commission held a joint meeting Monday to discuss budgets and other matters.

“I think it’s extremely important that citizens can come here and speak their minds and listen and hear what we do and the decisions we make,” Greenville Mayor PJ Connelly said. “And then also tell us what we need to work on. So I think it’s very important that citizens pay attention to what’s going on in your local governments.

The first of two meetings began at 6 p.m. at City Hall. City Council unanimously approved the Greenville Utilities Commission’s request for a 4% wage adjustment in the 2022-23 fiscal year budget.

“This will allow us to recruit and retain much-needed employees,” said Tony Cannon, Managing Director and CEO of Greenville Utilities. “As you know right now the market is not really competitive and that really gives us another tool in our toolbox to provide the services that our customers need.”

The second meeting was to hear the city’s proposed operating budget of $149.6 million. The proposed budget includes $2.8 million for things like street improvements, economic development and several improvement projects.

No changes were proposed to the property tax rate.

“We were able to get the first presentation of the budget, it’s exciting to be able to see that there is no tax increase proposed, which is great for the citizens of Greenville, there is a significant investment in a lot of our capital improvements, a lot of infrastructure, investments that are going to take place, but it’s also going to ensure that we still deliver the same quality services that citizens have come to expect,” Connelly said.

Greenville Utilities, the Convention and Visitors Authority and the Sheppard Memorial Library will present their proposed budgets on May 9. A public hearing for the full budget will be held on May 12, and city council is expected to vote on the proposed budget on May 23. The new fiscal year begins on July 1.