It’s that time of year where the attention of council and administration turns to finances and the yearly budget.  Overall the city is in good shape financially at the moment.  Council authorized pay adjustments this past year for both the Police and Fire departments to try to become more competitive with surrounding county and municipal agencies.  Even with the adjustment we still lag behind in what we are compensating the employees of these vital departments.  

This year’s budget aims to align our compensation with the median pay for comparable positions across the state.   In future years the hope is that we will become even more competitive and give us the ability to both attract and retain top talent.  It is far more economical to retain employees than it is to consistently have to hire and train.  By paying our first responders properly and giving them the equipment needed to perform their jobs all of Simpsonville will benefit.  

The city has and will continue to have needs to fund items and equipment across all of our departments that are both necessary and expensive to purchase and maintain. In the past these have been almost exclusively funded with General Fund money.  Council has recently begun the process that could bring Impact Fees to Simpsonville.  Simply put these are fees on any new development in the city limits that are paid by the developer.  This current council has been very hesitant to agree to any new development.  In fact, the last four requests for annexation have been denied.  One of the biggest factors is the fact it costs the taxpayers to take on the new infrastructure, not to mention quality of life issues!  

Along with Impact Fees, another source of increasing revenue for the city will be the Amphitheater at Heritage Park. The new promoters will put millions of dollars of upgrades into the facility and improve both the experience and the revenue.  The hope is that we will quickly double the city’s income from previous years.  By hiring a new promoter, we will also have a lot more flexibility in how we use the ballfields at the park.  Our Parks and Rec department will now have the capability to host both baseball and softball tournaments where our previous contract would not make this possible.  

The proposed budget for the 2026-2027 fiscal year will be on the agenda at our April 28 meeting for discussion.  It will need two votes beyond that to pass so there will be sufficient time to look at it, discuss it, and tweak it if necessary.  I hope to see you at a meeting!  

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