® ® Town of Garner, North Carolina Town of Garner, North Carolina RECOMMENDEDADOPTED ANNUAL ANNUAL OPERATING BUDGET OPERATINGFiscal Year 2017-18 BUDGET Fiscal Year 2017-18 garnernc.govgarnernc.gov /townofgarner/townofgarner Garner at a Government Demographics Glance The Town of Garner has a Council-Manager Population form of government with a Mayor and five 1970 - 4,923 Male - 47.5% member Town Council. Elections for 1980 - 10,073 Female - 52.5% the office of Council are held at two-year 1990 - 14,716 White - 57.8% intervals in November of odd-numbered 2000 - 17,787 Non-white - 42.2% years. Elections are non-partisan and all 2010 - 25,745 members of Council are elected for four 2017 - 28,558 year terms. The Mayor is elected for a four-year term at the same time elections for Land Area Town Council are held. 15.80 square miles The Town Council sets Town policies, enacts Employment Data ordinances and appoints the Town Manager. Total Employment - 15,670 The Town Manager administers the daily Total Unemployment - 557 operations and programs of the municipal Civilian Labor Force - 16,227 government through the department heads, Unemployment Rate - 3.4% other staff members and employees. Economics Public Utilities Major Employers (based on The City of Raleigh owns and operates a water the number of employees) distribution system, a sanitary sewer collection system and a wastewater treatment facility Wake County Public School System which provide service to the Town. Food Lion Walmart Supercenter Parks and Recreation Pergo The Town makes available to its citizens six Cabelas community parks and several neighborhood Golden State Foods parks consisting, in total, of 350 acres. F&D Huebner, LLC (McDonald's) Programs include an annual Independence Target Day celebration, Trick or Treat the Trails, Strategic Behavioral Health and a Groundhog Day celebration. The Kroger system also includes White Deer Park, a 160-acre passive park with a 2,500 sq. ft. Climate LEED© certified nature center. Average Daily Temperature January 39°F April 59°F All-America City July 78°F October 60°F The Town was named by the National Civic League as one of 10 All-America Cities in June 2013. The program recognizes citizen engagement, cross-sector collaboration, innovation and inclusiveness. It showcases grassroots solutions to meeting pressing challenges and critical needs in communities across the country. This prestigious award has been dubbed the "Nobel Prize" for civic accomplishment. TOWN OF GARNER NORTH CAROLINA FISCAL YEAR 2017-2018 ADOPTED OPERATING BUDGET Adopted By: The Honorable Mayor and Town Council Prepared By: The Office of the Town Manager BUDGET AWARD Distinguished Budget Presentation Award to the Town of Garner, North Carolina for its annual budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2016. In order to receive this award, a governmental unit must publich a budget document that meets program crieria as a policy document, an operations guide, as a financial plan, and as a communications device. This award is valid for a period of one year. The FY 2017-18 budget will be submitted to GFOA for award consideration. i. Annual Operating Budget Fiscal Year 2017-18 TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE BUDGET AWARD i. TABLE OF CONTENTS ii. INTRODUCTION SECTION Community Profile 1 Organizational Chart 4 Elected & Appointed Officials 5 Budgetary Approach 7 Budget Development 8 Budget Calendar 9 A Citizen's Budget Guide 10 Town Strategic Plan 13 Fiscal & Budgetary Policy Guide 21 Current Initiatives 29 BUDGET SUMMARY SECTION Budget in Brief 30 Budget Message 32 Adopted Budget Ordinance 48 Budget Overview - All Funds 54 Summary of Revenues - All Funds 55 Summary of Expenditures - All Funds 56 Summary of Changes in Fund Balances 57 Debt Service Requirements Debt Management 58 Computation of Legal Debt Margin 59 Debt Service Summary 60 Summary of Long-Term Debt Requirements 61 General Fund Staffing Summary 62 Authorized Positions 65 Town of Garner Pay Plan 67 Town of Garner Position Classification Plan 71 Awards Chart 75 ii. TABLE OF CONTENTS GENERAL FUND PAGE General Fund Revenues and Expenditures per Capita 76 General Fund Summary 77 General Fund Revenues by Source 79 Descriptions of Major Revenue Sources and Related Trends 82 General Fund Expenditures and Transfers by Function and Category 91 General Fund Approved Capital Outlay 95 Departmental Budget Detail: Governing Body 97 Administration 101 Finance 116 Economic Development 119 Planning 124 Engineering 128 Inspections 131 Information Technologies 135 Police 138 Fire 142 Public Works 144 Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources 160 Special Appropriations 173 Debt Service 174 CAPITAL PROJECT FUND Capital Projects Fund Summary 177 Descriptions of Active Capital Project Funds 179 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS PROGRAM Capital Improvement Program Overview 181 Summary of Capital Improvements and Funding Sources Plan 184 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION SECTION Key Facts and Statistics 203 Town of Garner Fees and Charges 210 Glossary of Budget Terminology 223 iii. COMMUNITY PROFILE Population Growth 30,000 25,000 20,000 Population: 28,558 15,000 Land Area: 15.80 sq. miles 10,000 5,000 Total Employment: 15,670 0 Civilian Labor Force: 16,227 1980 1990 2000 2010 2017 Unemployment Rate: 3.4% Male: 47.5% The Town makes available to its citizens six Female: 52.5% community parks and several neighborhood White: 57.8% parks consisting, in total, of 350 acres. Non-white: 42.2% Programs include an annual Independence Day celebration, Trick or Treat the Trails, GOVERNMENT and a Groundhog Day celebration. The The Town of Garner has a Council-Manager system also includes White Deer Park, a 160- form of government with a Mayor and five acre passive park with a 2,500 sq. ft. LEED© member Town Council. Elections for the certified nature center. office of Council are held at two-year intervals in November of odd-numbered years. Elections are non-partisan and all members of Council are elected for four year terms. The Mayor is elected for a four-year term at the same time elections for Town Council are held. The Town Council sets Town policies, enacts ordinances and appoints the Town Manager. ALL-AMERICA CITY The Town Manager administers the daily The Town was named by the National Civic operations and programs of the municipal League as one of 10 All-America Cities in government through the department heads, June 2013. The program recognizes citizen other staff members and employees. engagement, cross-sector collaboration, innovation and inclusiveness. It showcases The City of Raleigh owns and operates a grassroots solutions to meeting pressing water distribution system, a sanitary sewer challenges and critical needs in communities across the country. This prestigious award collection system and a wastewater treatment has been dubbed the “Nobel Prize” for civic facility which provides service to the Town. accomplishment. 1 HISTORY There are several legends as to how Garner got its When the North Carolina Railroad was built in name. One story has it that Thomas the 1850’s, it initiated the creation of many Bingham named the Town. Bingham is said to towns; Garner is one such town. Garner got its have combined a general store with handling the start with the coming of the railroad through the mail. Since Webster defines “garner" as a area beginning in 1847. In that year, after a tie‐ "granary," hence figuratively, a "store," he named breaker vote by the Speaker of the State House of the town "Garner.” Representatives, what is now Garner was chosen as the The late Parker Rand location of a new station of believed that Garner was the North Carolina Railroad named for a family that that ran between Goldsboro lived in the area and later and Charlotte. moved to Texas. Others believe the Town was Before the railroad tracks named by Henry Fort, a traversed the area that would black cabinetmaker and soon become Garner, cotton carpenter who owned some and tobacco crops, which land along the railroad after were vital to the growth of Garner through the the Civil War. twentieth century, dominated the land. The lack William S. Powell stated that Garner was named of buildings on right‐of‐way maps from the 1850s for its founder, H.C. Garner, but not much illustrates how sparsely populated this area was. information has been found about the man. Sometime before 1870, the railroad acquired a “wood and water” stop, roughly located in what Garner experienced actual combat in the closing is now downtown Garner. Although it wasn’t a days of the Civil War. Some skirmishes occurred depot, the railroad must have contributed to the in the area, as witnessed by the carefully growth of the settlement as a post office was preserved bullet holes in Bethel Church and the needed by 1878. Garner's Station was established “Garner” house, which is said to have been used with the construction of a post office in 1878 and as a hospital for wounded soldiers. Times the Town of Garner's Station incorporated in immediately after the close of the war must have 1883. Within one year Garner’s Station was a been difficult, but by 1878 the little community prospering town with several general stores. For had succeeded in getting a post office established. unknown reasons, the charter was repealed in This was where the name "Garner's Station" 1891. Once the Town acquired a railroad depot, it originated with Thomas Bingham was the first was reincorporated in 1905, this time as Town of postmaster. Garner. The depot, a four room building with a tin roof, quickly became essential to the An old map dated 1887 shows Garner connected community, carrying passengers once a day to with the City of Raleigh by a road, listed as Raleigh and establishing Garner as a local market Holloman's Road.