You Don’t Have to Be a “Numbers Person” to Care About the Budget
Public funding conversations are all around us — in city council and county commissioner meetings, school board debates, and even neighborhood group chats. But especially in moments of change, those conversations can feel tense, unclear, or just plain overwhelming.
Whether it’s headlines about budget shortfalls or social media posts calling out spending decisions, the numbers can seem mysterious, and misinformation can spread quickly when people don’t feel equipped to understand the process.
At Thriving Together Forsyth, we believe understanding budgets isn’t just for policy experts or accountants — it’s for all of us. Understanding how local budgets work gives people the tools to ask better questions, spot misinformation, and participate meaningfully in decisions that affect our schools, streets, and futures.
This article is designed to cut through the noise and make budget basics make sense, especially here in Winston-Salem and Forsyth County.
What Even Is a Budget?
Budgets are plans for how money will be raised and spent over a specific period, usually one year. In Winston-Salem city and Forsyth County budgets, that means funding everything from parks and libraries to school nurses, emergency responders, and public transportation.
There are two major types of local government budgets:
- Operating Budget – Covers everyday services and expenses, like staff salaries, transportation, essential classroom materials, such as student desks and technology, and utility bills
- Capital Budget – Pays for long-term investments, like new buildings, sidewalks, or sewer upgrades.
Budgets also include terms like:
- General Fund – The main pot of money for essential services (like fire, police, and basic government operations)
- Restricted Funds – Money that must be spent on a specific program or need (like youth sports, community centers, or grants for early childhood education)
- Fiscal Year – The 12-month period a government uses for budgeting, usually July to June in NC
Each spring, Winston-Salem and Forsyth County governments go through a budget cycle: agencies submit requests, officials forecast revenue, draft budgets are released, public hearings are held, and final budgets are approved in early summer. While the city and county budgets have some crossover, they are two totally separate budgets in our community.
Why It Matters to Know Where the Money Goes
At first glance, a budget may look like just numbers in rows and columns, but behind every line item is a choice. If your school doesn’t have enough support staff, if your streetlight is out for months, if public buses don’t run on time — these are often tied to budget decisions.
Local budgets decide things like:
- How many social workers and counselors are in schools
- What kind of community safety programs are funded
- How many times a year do leaves get picked up
- How affordable housing projects move forward (or don’t)
- What gets prioritized, and what gets delayed
That’s why people often call budgets “moral documents.” They reflect what a community values, what it needs, and what its leaders are willing or able to prioritize. They show us not only what gets funded, but also what doesn’t — and why.
But those choices don’t happen in a vacuum. Local officials must weigh competing demands while navigating complex constraints, such as legal rules, economic conditions, political pressures, and long-term commitments.
What Budgets Reveal: Priorities, Constraints, and Tradeoffs
Every local government must meet certain statutory (legally required) budget obligations. These expenses can’t be skipped or redirected — even in tough years. For example:
- Debt service: Paying back loans from past infrastructure or bond projects.
- Public education: Providing a baseline level of funding for public schools, as required by state law.
- Public safety mandates: Maintaining police, fire, and emergency services.
- Employee benefits: Fulfilling contracts and obligations for government workers’ pensions or health insurance.
These statutory requirements often make up a large share of the total budget, leaving only a fraction available for discretionary spending (the flexible portion where new investments or reductions are possible).
Tradeoffs in Discretionary Spending
With limited flexible dollars, local officials must make tough decisions:
- Should we expand school mental health services, or invest in affordable housing programs?
- Can we fund new public transit routes, or do we need to shore up stormwater infrastructure first?
How do we prioritize economic development without cutting after-school programs?
These tradeoffs reflect the push-pull between short-term needs and long-term vision, and they’re shaped not just by data but also by values, relationships, and public input.
Budgets as a Mirror of Priorities
A helpful way to think about a budget is this: it’s not just a financial document — it’s a mirror.
It shows us:
- What leadership sees as essential
- Which communities or programs are considered high priority
- Where gaps exist between needs and resources
- How equity — or inequity — is reflected in spending decisions
In Forsyth County, for example, a close look at the budget might reveal whether investments in youth services are growing or shrinking, or how much of the education budget goes to early childhood vs. post-secondary readiness.
By reading between the lines, residents can ask meaningful questions: Why is this department growing?
Why did this program lose funding? Who gets input on these decisions — and when?
Understanding these patterns helps us move beyond assumptions and see the whole picture — constraints, tradeoffs, and opportunities.
Finding and Interpreting Budget Information
If you’ve ever opened a city or county budget document and felt lost, you’re not alone.
These documents are long, technical, and rarely designed for easy reading. But there are ways in:
- Start with executive summaries (usually at the beginning of the budget)
- Use the search function to find key terms such as “education,” “housing,” or “recreation.”
- Attend or watch public budget presentations, where staff walk through major changes
- Follow local organizations that help break things down (like People’s Research Council, Action4Equity, or Thriving Together Forsyth)
Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, and Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools all share their draft and adopted budgets with the public each year. Below, we’ve highlighted the proposed 2025–2026 budgets for each and key takeaways to help break down what’s inside:
Forsyth County has released its proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year, emphasizing service stability, fiscal responsibility, and investments that support long-term community well-being. During a meeting on June 2, 2025, the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners approved a 0.28-cent property tax increase—raising the proposed rate to 53.52 cents per $100 of taxable property—to generate $1.5 million in funding for local nonprofits, including Harry’s Veteran Services. This marked a reversal from earlier budget decisions and was driven by the urgent need to support essential services for veterans, such as access to wheelchairs, car repairs, and help with medical bills. The final budget adoption will be considered at a special meeting on Wednesday, June 5 at 2:00 p.m. at the Forsyth County Government Center. The proposed budget is available for public review in the County Commissioners’ Office, on the Budget Department webpage, and at County library branches.
Here are a few key budget takeaways:
The City of Winston-Salem has released its proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year, focused on core services, equity, and long-term financial sustainability. The City Council held a public hearing on the proposed budget on Monday, June 2 at 6:00 p.m. in the City Council Chamber, with final budget adoption scheduled for Monday, June 16 at 6:00 p.m. in the same location.
Here are a few key budget takeaways:
Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools (WS/FCS) is grappling with a $42 million budget shortfall as it prepares its financial plan for the 2025–2026 school year. The superintendent’s recommended budget, presented earlier this spring, focuses on protecting student-centered priorities while addressing funding gaps. Key proposals include pay increases for classified staff, supplements for certified staff, expanded access to pre-K, and upgrades to aging technology systems. The district is also seeking additional support from Forsyth County to help close the gap while awaiting final decisions from the state and federal levels. Although a full budget document is not yet available, WS/FCS has pledged to release more detailed information as the process moves forward. Community members are encouraged to stay engaged and informed, especially as tough decisions lie ahead.
For more information about WS/FCS’ 2025-2026 budget, read the following resources:
The Power of Understanding: Building Community Confidence
When communities understand the budget, we build trust, not just in institutions, but in each other.
We’re better able to distinguish fact from rumor. We recognize the patterns in what gets funded and what doesn’t. We can hold leaders accountable with specificity, not just frustration.
And most importantly, we start to see ourselves as part of the story, not outside of it.
In places like Winston-Salem, where residents care deeply about our children’s future, our neighborhoods, and our collective well-being, budget understanding can help turn confusion into clarity and tension into thoughtful conversation.
Budget Knowledge Builds People Power
Budget knowledge belongs to everyone, not just officials behind the scenes or select voices in public comments.
Whether you’re a student, a parent, a retiree, a business owner, or a resident, the decisions made in local budgets affect your daily life. And understanding them isn’t about memorizing line items — it’s about gaining insight into how our systems work, what they reflect, and where we fit in.
Thriving Together Forsyth will continue to support community learning on these topics, including working toward developing a participatory budget learning campaign that invites residents to deepen their understanding and explore creative ways to get involved.
But for now, we hope this piece has helped demystify the fundamentals.
Because knowledge is one of our greatest tools for empowerment in uncertain times, and we’re stronger when we share it.