Fayetteville Today

City of Fayetteville issued the following announcement on June 29.

City Council Members approve FY2021 Budget

Fayetteville City Council members approved the fiscal year 2020-2021 (FY 2021) budget during Monday’s regular meeting. The approved, balanced operating budget is $234,160,261 across all funds.   The priorities in developing this budget were to offset expected revenue losses due to the Coronavirus pandemic while maintaining city services and addressing market-based pay gaps for public safety workers.  The property tax rate remains at 49.95 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, unchanged for the fourth year.  The storm water fee remains at $6.00 per month and the solid waste fee increases by $35 to $225 per year, relieving the need for tax support for solid waste operations.

FY2021 is unique because of challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. City leaders estimate a reduction in main revenue sources of up to $10 million over the current and upcoming fiscal years. The Fayetteville Public Works Commission will contribute COVID-19 supplemental funding of $4 million over FY 2020 and FY 2021 to help offset those revenue impacts.

Below are some of this year’s budget highlights:

• $2.5 million for public safety pay increases, including market-based adjustments for Police, Fire, and Emergency Telecommunicators
• $7.3 million financing for the relocation of Fire Station 4
• $4.4 million for pavement preservation funding
• $3.5 million for storm water watershed studies, $600,000 for drainage projects and $500,000 for the drainage assistance program
• $808,000 for sidewalk improvements
• $550,000 for municipal agreement with North Carolina Department of Transportation for the Bragg Boulevard Sidewalk project
• $160,000 to add a fourth litter crew and to enhance litter awareness
• $200,000 for racial equality and community healing initiatives to be determined by City Council
• $100,000 to continue the partnership with Cumberland County to fund strategies to assist homeless citizens, $80,000 to partner with Communities in Schools for a Student Support Specialist position in support of the Pathways for Prosperity Comprehensive Action Plan, and $50,000 for homeless initiatives to be determined by Council
• $96,050 for park and playground improvements
• $50,000 to purchase land for a second dog park
• $1.4 million for one-time bonuses for non-public safety employees in lieu of pay increases
• Hiring a Technology Asset Specialist to ensure reliability of equipment in solid waste vehicles
• Hiring two new Code Enforcement Administrators to enhance solid waste code compliance and rapid response to community issues
• Hiring a Construction Management and Capital Projects Director

Visit fayettevillenc.gov/budgetchronicles to learn more about the present and past budget years and how the city’s finances are managed.

Original source can be found here.