Here’s a recap of Greenville County Council’s June 17 meeting:
Approved: $488.5M FY 2025-2026 budget
Council approved third and final reading of a $488.5 million budget ordinance for the 2025-2026 fiscal year that includes a slight millage decrease and a 6% pay raise for public safety employees.
The marathon four-hour meeting was at times contentious as Council members debated various amendments, most of which centered on whether to reduce or maintain funding for affordable housing, public transit and conservation funding.
The amendment to increase public safety employee raises from the initial proposal of 3% for all county employees and proposed by Councilman Joey Russo (District 17) was approved early in the debate and ratified by the final 8-4 vote approving the overall budget.
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The money for the additional 3% raise for public safety workers, which include sheriff’s deputies, detention center employees and EMS workers, will largely come from diverting the funding that would have paid for 12 new deputy sheriff positions and about $2.7 million that would have gone to road maintenance.
Among the other items approved in the budget are:
- A 3% pay raise for all county employees
- $2 million for affordable housing
- $1 million for land conservation through the Greenville County Historic and Natural Resources Trust
- $3 million for public transit
- A 1.5 mill decrease in ad valorem property tax rates for a total operating millage for 2025-2026 of 54.3 mills
The new fiscal year begins July 1.
