Greer council holds first reading of $59 million budget, schedules workshop and final vote

Greer City Council on May 27 conducted the first reading of the city’s fiscal year 2025–26 budget ordinance, a spending plan that sets the general fund at about $59,000,000 while keeping the millage at 13 mills. Council voted to receive the ordinance on first reading and scheduled a workshop for June 3 and a second (final) reading for June 10.

The budget matter was the meeting’s primary substantive item. Mayor Danner opened council discussion by noting the length and scrutiny of this year’s process: “this particular budget has seen more scrutiny than I believe any budget that I’ve been involved in.” City Administrator Mike Merryman and finance staff briefed council on revenue, fund balances and the administration’s recommendation to hold impact fees for future capital needs.

Finance presenter Chris Klein told council that, as of April 2025, the city’s general fund had a cash balance of $30,231,000, year-to-date revenues of $45,999,000, year-to-date expenditures of $36,478,000 and an overall favorable benchmark variance of $9,011,000. Klein and Merryman also described other funds in the budget: a capital equipment fund “just south of $4,000,000,” a stormwater fund around $2.5 million, and hospitality/accommodations receipts estimated at about $4.1 million.

Merryman summarized the staff process that produced the proposal and observed that the city is “a very healthy city,” with officials citing roughly a 15% increase in assessed value and an 8.4–8.5% increase in the value of a mill compared with the prior year. The administration said the budget assumes no change to the 13-mill rate and that two mills remain dedicated to debt and paving-related funds (2.07 mills for GO debt and 5 mills for infrastructure and paving were referenced during discussion).

Council members debated whether to seek a millage reduction now that assessed values and “mill value” have grown. Councilman Arrowood urged staff to evaluate options to reduce millage, suggesting a rollback “by as much as 2 mills” as a scenario to examine; several other council members expressed support for exploring reductions before the second reading. Staff estimated a 2-mill reduction would reduce the budget by approximately $5,000,000.

Council also discussed impact fees collected since October: staff reported roughly $400,000–$500,000 collected to date and estimated, based on seasonal permit activity, that annualized receipts could approach $1.5 million to $2 million. The administrator recommended holding impact-fee revenue this fiscal year to offset future capital costs rather than spend it in the current adopted budget.

The council’s procedural action at the meeting was a vote to receive Ordinance 13-2025 (the FY 2025–26 budget ordinance) on its first reading. Council members voted in favor; staff said follow-up budget workshops will provide line-item review ahead of the June 10 final reading.

The administration and council identified next steps: a public workshop on June 3 at 5:30 p.m., and the second (final) reading of the budget ordinance on June 10. Staff said they will be prepared to provide scenarios for millage adjustments at the workshop.