Salisbury city council retreat day one addresses capital project management, budget, strategic plan changes

SALISBURY — There was a campout in the Salisbury City Hall. The Salisbury City Council had their annual planning retreat on Tuesday and Wednesday, discussing capital projects, roadway maintenance, housing development and strategic plans.

The retreat started at 10:45 a.m. on Tuesday with a weather delay and 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, and all of the meetings were broadcast live and recorded on the City of Salisbury Vimeo page. On Tuesday, the council covered capital projects and budgeting as well as professional roles of the council. A report on Wednesday’s proceedings on department specific goals will appear in the Feb. 3 Salisbury Post.

The first day started with introductions from the retreat’s facilitator Jeff Emory, the former city manager of Lincolnton, and Assistant City Manager Kelly Baker. They posed the upcoming year as a long hike with this retreat as base camp, hence the camping decorations around the office. Emory walked the council through decorum expectations for the retreat.

Capital project planning and management

The first day started with a presentation from outgoing Finance Director Wade Furches and Budget Manager Tracey Keyes about the prioritization of upcoming capital projects. This started another conversation about the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) which came up in the next session. 

They started by defining a capital project as a project with an expenditure greater than $100,000 results in the acquisition of a fixed asset and has a usefulness more than three years. This is a definition the planning team is working to improve during the CIP creation process.

They then listed out the active projects across departments that have been proposed or are in progress. This reiterated much of what was presented at the previous City Council meeting’s capital projects report with a few additions.

The majority of the projects were presented without any updated timelines like the Kesler Mill Project, neighborhood revitalization program, West Innes Street renovations, Fire Station Two decontamination unit, police department training facility, 130 South Main Street city office building, greenway expansion, Mayor Karen Alexander’s memorial garden and the community center and pool. 

They offered some updates on upcoming projects with the Empire Hotel redevelopment project going into phase two and three this year. Keyes reported that the project will put in an economic development request in April.

She also highlighted a new project of fleet maintenance and consolidation for the city. With increased necessity of the city fleet and public safety apparatus, the project seeks to alleviate these higher demands.

They also addressed the Main Street streetscape project, which they anticipate to get further underway starting this summer or early fall. Additionally, this summer, the city is planning to conduct a parking study with consultants from Kimley Horn to identify areas that need parking improvements.

There will be more funding information in April or May for upcoming capital projects, prior to next fiscal year budget votes

Beyond the actual projects, capital projects are undergoing a management change with the capital improvement plan in development. Public Works Director Chris Tester and representatives from Freese and Nichols, the consulting firm helping on the project, presented on the progress of the plan.

At this point, the project is only a few weeks in with Freese and Nichols interviewing staff from around to get feedback on project planning. The process will continue with document review and process mapping, resulting in analyzing the gaps in the current process and potential recommendations.

While early in the process, there is a possibility that there will be personnel recommendations, potentially centralizing the planning team under a single team rather than across departments. They also initially recommended a community and internal dashboard to track project progress.

City financial review 

Furches returned to give the city’s financial position update for the last time in his tenure. They presented the initial, unaudited finances from fiscal year 2025 along with prospects for the upcoming fiscal year.

They first reported the revenue over expenses which totaled $5.86 million. This was due to $938,000 higher revenue from property taxes than anticipated and $1.11 million more in revenue taxes, primarily sales taxes. There were also savings with interest income that came out to $586,000 over expected. Savings on salary expenditures totaling $1.17 million, with the majority of that coming from savings from the police department.

The general fund balance available to appropriate sits at $25.49 million, but Furches contextualized this number with the upcoming expenses and standards for fund balances. The city is required to maintain a minimum of 25 percent of expenditures and other fund balances in the general fund, and as of June 30, 2025, the city maintains 71.7 percent which is pretty standard with neighboring municipalities.

Furches then walked through upcoming expenditures that would take away from the general fund. This included the Main Street project, fuel site finalization, Wells Fargo building funds, Maxson building expenses and other various budgeted items for the fiscal year. This takes the available balance to $17.7 million, which was up $3.74 million from the $13.99 million available at last year’s retreat. 

The Salisbury Rowan Utilities fund is up to $56.8 million which is 177 percent of expenditures based on the current budget. The stormwater fund is considered an “infant” fund with $3.87 million which is 164 percent of expenditures. The mass transit fund which is primarily grant funded sits at $167,000 roughly 8 percent of expenditures.

Looking at the 2026 fiscal year, there was no property tax increase with the rate still at $0.665 per $100 valuation. Water and sewer rates are set to increase by 4 percent, and stormwater fees are expected to go up $0.48 per month. 

They are projecting to get more property taxes, with the exception of vehicles, at roughly a $600,000 revenue increase. The collection rate is at 86 percent which is roughly the same as years prior. With these tax predictions, the city is ahead of budget for fiscal year 2026.

Looking to fiscal year 2027, the only concerns that Furches put forth were flattening revenue and staffing challenges. There have been complaints from the fire department about employee compensation and benefits, which could make an extra expenditure depending on the budget. Also, as the city continues to grow, Furches predicts there will be greater infrastructure costs that the city needs to maintain.

Uses for extra revenue

With these additional revenues, the city staff has put forth multiple short-term projects that the excess could be spent on. The following proposals are slated for the meeting on Feb. 3.

There was a proposal for a city lake oxygen diffuser system following the fish kill at City Park Pond in August 2025, which will cost $12,500. Additionally, the Oakwood Cemetery is slated for a fence replacement costing $15,000.

The trash and recycling cans around the city are set to get a refresh for the cost of $25,000, along with recycling decals and education materials that will cost $56,500. They are also hoping to fund asphalt resurfacing across the city at $300,000.

With increased city staffing needs, there was a proposal to remodel the Park Avenue building for $112,551 and the Salisbury customer service center for $40,000. 

Finally, they are proposing funding for updated fire department equipment totaling $100,000 and a master plan for the community center and pool project that will cost $50,000.

In total, this amounts to $711,551 that will come from the excess budget from this fiscal year. There were no expressed concerns or questions about the proposed projects from the council.

Strategic plan revisions

Associate Dean of the Ketner School of Business at Catawba College Christine Lynn presented with support from city staff about the changes recommended for Salisbury’s strategic plan. The strategic plan is an evolving document that is altered as the goals of the city change.

None of the key focus areas were suggested to be changed. However, there were language changes to all of the key focuses.

The staff recommended moving public safety community conversations into the healthy and safe neighborhood focus from its original place in the public safety focus. In economic and workforce development, there was language change about revitalizing the Salisbury Depot and improving the microtransit pilot program now that both projects are underway.

In public safety, they added in goals to improve fire station two and construct the police training facility. They also added clauses about increasing the parks and recreation programming for youth and improving the emergency operation center plans. 

In sustainable infrastructure, they made a goal to implement the capital improvement plan and increase funding for tech infrastructure in the city. Finally, under cultural amenities, they proposed adding language about constructing the community center and pool and completing the renovation on 130 South Main street. 

2025 review and day one wrap-up

Following the strategic plan proposal, Mayor Tamara Sheffield gave a review of 2025, highlighting events and accomplishments from the year. She presented them in correspondence with the strategic plan. 

One of the primary highlights from her presentation was the grant funding that the city received over the course of the year. She reported that the city received almost $16.3 million in grant funding for various projects and programs.

Following her presentation, Emory along with City Manager Jim Greene and City Attorney Grant Corriher gave an overview of the role the city council plays in governance across the city. Salisbury functions under a council-manager form of governance, which puts execution of council passed decisions as the responsibility of Greene.

Corriher presented the alternative of a mayor-council form of government, where the mayor and council would be more involved in the day-to-day operations of the city. However, all of the council members reacted adversely to this idea, reiterating that they would want to stick to the status quo.

At this point, Sheffield adjourned the meeting until Wednesday morning.