Spartanburg City Council adopts fiscal 2025–26 budget, council clarifies 'no tax increase'
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Summary
City Council gave final approval to the FY2025–26 operating budget and a companion ordinance to levy taxes for the fiscal year, with staff and council emphasizing the package does not raise the tax rate or household fees.
The City of Spartanburg City Council approved the city operating budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, and adopted a companion ordinance to levy taxes for the fiscal year during its June 9, 2025 meeting. Council members voted in favor of both items on final reading.
City staff (Mr. Storey) told council members there is no proposed tax increase in the budget and that the phrase “to raise revenues for the city” appears in the ordinance title because it is taken directly from state code; it does not mean the tax rate is increasing. “There is no proposed tax increase, reflected in this budget,” Mr. Storey said, adding that uniform household fees are not being increased.
Mr. Storey said staff added schedule details for individual hospitality-tax discretionary grant recipients and updated wording related to previously approved stadium financing; he said those changes do not alter the overall numbers from first reading. He recommended approval on final reading.
Council members asked clarifying questions about reassessment, the millage rollback applied during the last reappraisal cycle and whether the budget was largely status quo. Mr. Storey confirmed the city had applied a rollback in previous years following state formulas tied to reappraisals and described most service levels as continuing with modest operating-cost increases related to inflation and higher activity.
A motion to approve ordinance A, adopting the city operating budget for fiscal 2025–26, passed on final reading with the assembly verbally indicating “Aye.” A subsequent motion to approve ordinance B, to levy taxes for the fiscal year (described in the ordinance as “to raise revenues” but clarified by staff as not increasing the rate), also passed with the same verbal vote.
The budget would take effect July 1, 2025. No roll-call vote or named vote tallies were recorded in the transcript of the public meeting.
Ending: Council approved the budget package without a tax-rate increase and asked staff to continue briefings on larger projects tied to the budget, including stadium financing language and related implementation details.
