Raises for many in law enforcement and a cost-of-living adjustment for other local government staffers are two highlights from the 2024 budget unveiled Tuesday by Interim Administrator Takiyah Douse.
With a handful of new spending items, the budget again tops $1 billion, coming in at $1.16 billion, a 4.5% increase over this year. Once approved by the commission, the budget goes into effect in January.
Douse previously presented details of the law enforcement increases, which will bring the starting salary for road patrol deputies and investigators to $50,500, at a cost of $1.9 million. The plan will increase the base pay of supervisory wardens at Richmond County Correctional Institution to $44,000 and expand a Marshal’s Office litter program.
The funding source for the additions is projected 2% growth in Augusta’s taxable property digest, 3% growth in the local option sales tax, an 8.7% increase in insurance premium taxes and a 9% increase in electrical franchise fees, Douse said.
For employees besides the deputies and others receiving larger increases, the majority of staff will see a 3% cost-of-living adjustment in April.
Augusta commissioners had numerous questions about the budget and voted to hold a workshop Oct. 26 to give it further review.
New spending items in the budget include:
- $25,000 for “Give Change that Counts,” a program to discourage giving to panhandlers
- $300,000 for expanded internal audits, which the commission approved in May
- $285,000 for cybersecurity enhancements, after the city sustained a cyber attack in May
- $50,000 for Destination Augusta to award events grants
- $200,000 for building plan review software
- $95,000 to make over Augusta’s comprehensive zoning ordinance
- $425,000 for building demolitions, plus whatever remains from a 2023 American Rescue Plan allocation
Commissioner Sean Frantom questioned the cost of expanding the audit program. According to a procurement document, the city foresees the selected firm auditing 25% of city departments per year on a four-year cycle.
He also inquired why Augusta hasn’t raised employee health insurance contributions in six years. “That’s a discussion that needs to happen,” he said.
The budget for Mayor Garnett Johnson’s office also went up, although Johnson said he hadn’t requested an increase. Under the proposal, his office budget would increase 3.9%, from $554,020 to $575,830.
In other business
In another matter, Blythe resident Donna Sellers asked the commission to remove the “Jefferson Davis Highway” stone markers installed at two locations in 1930 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
“I’d like to see that the state and the city and the county ask the ladies of the Confederacy to take the rocks back,” Sellers said.
The two boulders, which sit alongside Milledgeville Road and in a highway island just outside Blythe city limits, are in disrepair, Sellers said.
Olmstead liquor nixed
Olmstead Homes won’t be the new site of a liquor store after commissioners voted 9-1 to deny a rezoning application for it.
The parcel, which has housed a gas station since 1973, sits at the corner of Milledge Road and Broad Street. It’s the only lot in the block that isn’t occupied by Olmstead Homes, a public housing project prone to gang shootings and other crime.
Alex Merrill, attorney for developer Yana and Arya, LLC, argued that the city allows alcoholic drinks to be sold at its nearby facilities, the Julian Smith Casino and the Julian Smith Barbecue Pit, so it should allow the package store.
“Queen’s Wine and Liquor” would be a new addition, not a replacement for the gas station, Merrill said.
Planning Director Carla DeLaney said the planning commission recommended denial based on “community health overall” and the “long-term needs of these citizens.”
Commissioner Catherine Smith McKnight was the only “no” vote to deny. “It seems like we support a lot of the others on here for liquor stores, so I’m going to vote the opposite,” she said.
