Pride Submits 2011 Budget Request
to Kinston City Council

Fresh from adopting a new vision statement crafted by local residents and leaders, the Pride of Kinston went directly to the members of Kinston’s City Council Monday, May 17, 2010 to request an increase in its annual contribution from the City to support its work in the downtown area. The organization asked for $90,500.00—$4550.00 over the current year's allocation of $85,950.00—and another $15,000.00 to match private donations for the South Queen Street-historical cemetery project. Private individuals and institutions have donated and pledged a total of $132,500.00 to the project.

“We felt it was not out of line to ask City Government to match even in this small way the generosity of a number of private donors,” Adrian King, Pride director commented.

Even then, acknowledging budget issues, King described Pride’s proposed 2011 spending plan as a “hold even” budget.

Pride’s request was submitted under several justifications: (1) Need to continue momentum for downtown revitalization; (2) Pride is a “true and reliable partner” with development goals consistent with the City’s goals, serving the same citizens as agencies of City Government; (3) Pride represents a “real bargain…a cut rate investment but one which undeniably yields enhanced revenue for the City.” (4) Community support for the “private-public partnership which we represent…” was offered as another reason for City support.

King pointed out that since 2004, Pride has funded 27 façade and property improvement grants totaling almost $72,000.00, and that the 2009 tax revaluation conducted by Lenoir County showed that the affected buildings had increased in tax value from $911,553.00. in 2004 to $1,412,566.00 in 2009.

On the cover memo accompanying the budget request, King wrote City Administrators that “given Pride’s record, it is not unseemly to request some level of participation in the improved tax base to which it has contribution.”

Pride’s new vision statement, adopted following a staff and board retreat last fall, and a community forum earlier this year, is as follows:

“The vision of Pride of Kinston, Inc. is a downtown on the banks of the Neuse River that serves as the gateway to Eastern North Carolina. Our appreciation of history guides our future and promotes the magic to grow business, recreation, and the arts.”

The full text of Pride’s budget statement submitted to the City Council:

Budget Request Statement
May 17, 2010
Kinston City Council work session

I appreciate the opportunity to present and justify Pride of Kinston’s budget request to the members of the Kinston City Council.

While we have a substantial representation of the City’s interests on Pride’s board and committees, i.e. members of the City Council, the City manager, the Public Services director, the Planning director, the City engineer, we feel it is a useful exercise to make our case directly to the Council….the ultimate representatives of Kinston’s short term and long term interests.

We also have representatives in our deliberations of the Committee of 100, the Lenoir County Manufacturers Association, the Kinston-Lenoir County Chamber of Commerce and the Kinston-Lenoir County Parks and Recreation.

Why does Pride ask for support from the City of Kinston?

1. Because we need it to continue the momentum for downtown revitalization.
2. Because we believe that Pride is a true and reliable partner with downtown development goals consistent with City Government’s goals and objectives. When you “do something” for Pride, you are doing something for the same citizens as if an arm of Public Services or Public Safety was in action.
3. Because we feel that in Pride, as a prime economic development entity for downtown, you get a real bargain…a cut rate investment but one which undeniably yields enhanced revenue for the City.
4. And because we believe that a great majority of Kinston’s citizens—downtown and throughout the community—strongly supports Pride’s work and favors the private-public development partnership which we represent. If the grocery store, drug store, restaurants, street-side surveys are reliable indications, our operating philosophy, “It takes a whole town to care about downtown,” has been thoroughly embraced throughout the community.
   • At Pride, we have a board of directors of 22 members;
   • 27 local residents who are non board members are on Pride’s committees;
   • 20 residents, and non board members, serve on our Outdoor Events team which oversees the annual Run for the River.
   • 160 volunteers turned out this spring to help conduct the race, including the Pink Hill Boy Scouts, and Girl Scout Troops 166, 600 and 532, participants in the Community College’s early college program and people from all sectors of the city.
   • The Riverfront Task Force is composed 34 members, 24 of them non-Pride board members. Members of the Master Gardeners, and Home Gardeners garden clubs are regular volunteers for Design Committee projects.
   • Clean-Up days, an annual activity for four years now, attracts anywhere from 60-160 volunteers each year who share our objective of a clean downtown.
   • And it is clear for all to see that Pride’s Sand in the Streets concerts attract thousands of music fans to the downtown every summer.
   • In many ways, Pride has reached out to the community, sought to involve the community, and the community has responded with cheerful enthusiasm…In the process, Pride has become the vehicle for city residents, young and old, African-American, white and Hispanic, to claim a role in improving the environment for Kinston’s future.

Pride conducted a board and committee retreat last October followed by a community vision forum in February 2010. The community vision forum and the retreat attracted a broad assembly of Pride advocates. And the process yielded a new vision statement for our efforts:

“The vision of Pride of Kinston, Inc. is a downtown on the banks of the Neuse River that serves as the gateway to Eastern North Carolina. Our appreciation of history guides our future and promotes the magic to grow business, recreation, and the arts.”

The new vision statement flows from a strong history by the organization of working in concert with City Government to make a positive difference Kinston’s future.

• Since 2004, Pride of Kinston has paid a total of $100,632.42 in property taxes.
• Since 2004, and thru April 2010, Pride of Kinston has paid a total of $178,612.18 to City of Kinston utilities.
• Since 2004, Pride of Kinston has contributed $71,879.35 to support a total of 27 façade and property improvement projects in the Municipal Service District.
• According to the Lenoir County Tax Department, the 2009 tax re-evaluation shows that these specific properties increased in tax value from $911,553.00 in 2004 to $1,412,566.00 in 2009…a $500,000.00 addition to the local tax base.
• In just the past 22 months, Pride has spent $97,000.00 on downtown appearance, not including the $125,000.00 we spent to upgrade and expand the parking lot which serves the Community Health Center and businesses along North Street between Queen and Herritage Streets.

There are three broad areas I want to touch on which justifies our request:

1. The first area I want to mention is appearance.

There are 96 holly trees along Queen Street. A spread of monkey grass sits at the bottom of almost every tree. There are 36 planters and pots along Herritage and Queen Streets. Parking lots and other landscaping sites account for 15 areas which require tending to. There are 16 streets in the MSD district which require regular trash pick up exercises. There are 18, soon to be 24, hanging baskets adorning the Herritage Street business corridor. And at last count, there are some 250 plants, trees and shrubs which require a visit by our watering truck…in addition to the spots cited above. The right-of-way from bottom of South Queen to the Neuse River bridges requires constant attention. The Welcome to Kinston sign needs to be periodically refreshed. At Pride’s request, the spot designated to be a new All America City park was treated to 4000 cubic yards, or 300 truck loads of earth courtesy of Spirit AeroSystems. The pending new entrance into Maplewood will need requires Pride’s attention. We maintain these areas with the help of two part-time individuals, community service workers—and we never know how many -- and some help from the folks at Caswell Center.

2. The next theme I’ll call downtown energy:

The risks we took (and the early deficits) to grow Sand in the Streets from a single concert on Blount Street to this year’s eight shows in Pearson Park have paid off in a big way. Same can be said for our Run for the River…and our Holly Days event in December to kick off Christmas. And we are working on a Fall version of Sand in the Streets named the Homegrown Music Festival. These Pride initiatives attract huge crowds to our downtown…and many from outside Kinston. They add excitement, energy, good will….and familiarity with our downtown, our shops and our restaurants.

The combined genius of our businesses, our musicians, our runners, our volunteers, our sponsors, our advertising and our audiences have made a huge dent in the often previously heard complaint: “but there’s nothing to do in Kinston.”

3. The third theme I’ll call private enterprise:

Pride’s promotional work is not relegated strictly to Pride-produced projects. We regularly document, promote and celebrate the private investor. You will remember that we reported $3 million in new investment in downtown in the Fall of 2007.

In the Fall 2008 we detailed the 19 renovation projects underway at that time. And earlier this year we issued a report on new businesses in the downtown. Other investor services have also included coordination of the press event to announce the Chef and the Farmer in 2006. We coordinated the media announcement for Mother Earth Brewing Company last Fall. We regularly invite new business owners to be our guests on the TACC9 show: “Take Pride.”

At the end of the day, it is the entrepreneur, the investor, the business man or woman who will, and is, transforming downtown into an attractive and interesting place to do business.

Now to the budget. The draft budget submitted to the City Manager a few weeks ago reflected a 5% reduction over the current year’s spending plan. Based on some close analysis, I felt we would come in about $20,000.00 under what we projected in expenses last summer….so in the spirit of prudent citizenship, we cut that out of the proposed budget for 2011.

In the five years of my time, we have never overspent Pride’s adopted budget. We have always come in under the approved plan.

Pride’s draft proposed budget submitted to the City Manager requested a $4,550.00 increase from the general fund, from this year’s $85,950.00. to $90,500.00. (Our early planning document reflects a total spending plan for 2010-2011 of $363,262. compared to this year’s operating budget of $381,505.00.)

We also asked that the City Government provide $15,000.00 to match the donations of private individuals and institutions supporting what we are calling the South Queen initiative. When we began the project between Shine and South Streets to clear dilapidated buildings in order to unveil Kinston’s historic cemeteries, a number of private individuals and institutions stepped forward to help. In all, a total of $132,500.00 was pledged to get this underway. And we are grateful for these gifts and pledges.

However, we felt it was not out of line to ask City Government to match even in this small way the generosity of a number of private donors.

What do we plan with the 2010-2011 budget:

1. Continue our downtown environmental maintenance program;
2. Continue the façade grants program for business exterior improvements;
3. Pay for a full audit of Pride’s financials;
4. Continue work on the South Queen/historical cemeteries entranceway project;
5. Work at containing the costs of running the Kinston Enterprise Center while marketing in order to attract new entrepreneurs;
6. In short, the 2011 budget promises to be a hold even plan.

What do we propose when we have more money:

1. First, think big;
2. Work with the City et al to create a new incentives program to attract new business into the downtown;
3. Mount a directed marketing program to lure new retailers downtown;
4. Join with City Planning to implement a Master Plan/Urban Design; And work for an ordnance to establish an overlay district with authority to regulate issues such as appearance, etc.
5. Work to keep tractor trailers which use Queen Street as a raceway away from the business district, like in olden times;
6. Complete and begin implementation of the new entranceway into Kinston, with two projects: the All America City Park and the Cemetery entrance park;
7. Re-start the pedestrian bridge project;
8. Improve incentives package so that Pride can attract new talent when the time comes;

In conclusion, in 2012, Kinston will celebrate its 250th birthday. The question today is this: what do we want our town to be like 2 years from now?

Adrian King
Executive Director
May 17, 2010