Mayor Echols answers your questions about the city -

How will you help the city address budgeting in today's economic climate?
In recent years, City Council and staff have worked diligently to keep taxes and the cost of government from rising, even as demand for services has grown. This year the challenge is greater than ever so the city is examining every penny it spends as you are at home and in your business.

With the exception of public safety, I anticipate that the city's department budgets will be at or below last year's levels even though we are serving more citizens than we were a year ago.

Public safety areas will see an increase we want to ensure that we maintain the quality of life that makes Rock Hill such an attractive place to live and work. We will hire additional police officers this year and we will complete two new fire stations to keep pace with a growing population.

Explain your strategic reinvestment of special revenue funds to keep our community moving forward.
At the same time that we are conservatively managing our operating and capital budgets, we are trying to be innovative and visionary particularly during these hard times so Rock Hill will be ready when we see better days.

One way we can accomplish this without raising taxes is by strategically reinvesting money from special revenue sources such as accommodations and hospitality tax, grants and tax increment financing or TIF districts.

Accommodations and Hospitality tax money must be reinvested in projects that are designed to stimulate the economy by increasing visitor traffic to local attractions such as Winthrop University, festivals, sports venues, arts and cultural institutions as well as local restaurants, hotels, motels and retail stores.

Tax Increment Financing, or TIF funds, must be reinvested in the location where the tax is generated, again, in projects designed to stimulate the local economy. The Galleria area and Downtown Rock Hill both benefit by having TIFs in place.

A recent success story is the Manchester Soccer Complex which was funded by hospitality revenues. This investment has paid the city back to the tune of $1.6 million in direct economic impact in 2008.

All three of these special revenue funds have restrictions on how they are used and cannot be diverted to the general operations budget. In recent months you've seen several projects brought forward to city council that have been financed by one or more of the revenue sources, for example -a Vernon Grant inspired creative play museum for children, a community performance center and improvements to Glencairn Garden including the Veterans Memorial garden now in progress. Each of these projects represents a key component in a strategic reinvestment plan. The idea is that by wisely “reinvesting” these funds the city will generate new tax dollars from increased economic activity that will go to support future operating budgets. This is exactly what has happened with past projects like the Manchester Soccer Complex.

Will Rock Hill see any benefit from federal stimulus funds?
Our grants office has generated over $20 million dollars in the past seven years. Grant funds have allowed us to strengthen neighborhoods with programs like the Weed & See grant and investment in affordable housing the Arcade Mill area.

With this year's historic passage of the federal stimulus package we have been busy applying for federal stimulus grants in 33 categories worth over $30 million. The stimulus funds will allow us to implement priority projects sooner rather than later and stimulate local jobs at the same time.

Although we will not receive all of the dollars we've asked for we are hopeful that we will receive a significant portion of it. One grant we have already received is a Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) of $343,959 to help us buy equipment for the new police officers we will hire this new budget year.

We've heard a lot about the Celanese site and the textile corridor but when will we begin to see economic development in these two areas?
Two projects, River Falls (the former Celanese site) and the Bleachery project are “teed up” to begin implementation. Plans have been presented to the city for initial stages of work on both projects this year. The city will encourage private investment by using TIF funds to help with infrastructure improvements.

These two projects alone have the capacity to attract pver $800 million in private investment at full build out over several years..

What is the 2020 Vision Plan?
A 10 year planning process required by the state that will provide guidance to the city for the next decade. A citizens committee has been created to take a lead role in shaping our city's future through this planning process

Will we have more restrictions on our use of water?
We were reminded during the severe drought of the past couple of years that water is a resource we will need to conserve and monitor for the foreseeable future. The city working with other municipalities and Duke Energy will relax or tighten restrictions as water drought conditions change. We have recently been able to relax some of the water restrictions put in place last summer realizing that we may have to reinstate them if severe drought conditions return.

Why has the City invested so much in the roadways into the City?
We continue to work on major corridors into the City by improving roads and bridges, adding way finding signage, moving utilities underground and landscaping. There are both functional reasons for these improvements (better traffic flow, less costly repair, safety) and aesthetic reasons (improved civic pride and image). Projects to come include the new Highway 21 Bridge and planning for future corridors such as Dave Lyle Extension and the bridge connector to Lancaster County.

Explain the importance of working to make Rock Hill a “college town?” Aren't we already a college town?
Winthrop University is one of our community's truly exceptional resources. College towns that maximize the relationship between the city and the college tend to have more vibrant and sustainable economies and higher quality of life. While we know that we have enjoyed those benefits for years, city and college leaders believe that there is much more potential than is currently being realized. Working together to plan for the future development of the Winthrop area we can create a whole new level of success as college towns become more and more popular as preferred places to live and work.