Thanks to an infusion of federal cash, Augusta’s proposed budget for 2022 comes in just a shade under $1 billion.
The total budget package presented by Augusta City Administrator Odie Donald is $999.6 million, which is $79.6 million over the 2021 budget.
The budget increase includes $40 million received from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic recovery Act (CARE) and an additional $39 million collected through SPLOST 8.
Despite the fact that the city is set to spend 8.6% more money that it is spending in the current fiscal year, Donald maintains that the overall budget is not increasing.
“To make it clear, at my directive, there was no increase in the budget. Everyone was required to operate within a flat budget.” Donald said.
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Despite Donald’s claims of operating on a flat budget, the mayor’s office is getting more money from the general fund if the proposal passes.
For years, Mayor Hardie Davis has received roughly $35,000 a year, separate from his regular budget, to administer the My Brother’s Keeper program. That program was funded through the city’s general fund. The mayor has done little with that program since it first started.
For 2022, Donald’s budget proposal seemingly eliminates the My Brother’s Keepers funding, but actually, he rolled that money, along with an extra $33,810, into the mayoral budget for a total of $68,810 over last year. The proposal would give the mayor a grand total of $554,020 to run his office next year.
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“When we looked at the mayor’s budget, we simply removed the My Brother’s Keeper. I think this is important for our public to know that the narrative is correct. My Brother’s Keeper was called out as a separate category, but to make sure we kept the budget flat, we simply included all of those things and also provided room for mayoral initiatives. We simply included all those things in the mayor’s operating budget,” Donald told the Finance Committee on Oct. 26.
Donald said the increase was justified because the mayor needs to increase his part-time assistant’s hours to full-time. He still denied this would constitute an increase.
On the matter of staffing, Augusta commissioners have previously approved using CARE Act funding to create a $15 per hour minimum wage, which means that almost all city workers will see some form of wage increase in the next year.
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However, Donald’s presentation to the commission did not explain how those raises will be maintained when the federal funding runs out at the end of next year.
The proposal does disclose that the city will lose an estimated $3 million in revenue due to Columbia County splitting off and creating its own Superior Court circuit. Also, due to market conditions, the city will lose an estimated $750,000 in earnings from interest.
The 2022 budget includes implementation of a $3.2 million retention plan for the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, which has suffered from understaffing. Meanwhile, the city will dig into SPLOST 7 funds to build a fire station on Gordon Highway at a cost of $5 million.
According to the proposal, $6 million is allocated to the Light Up Augusta initiative to provide more street lights throughout the city, $1 million for improvements to city parks, $600,000 to arm marshal’s office employees with body cameras, $5 million in road resurfacing, $1.5 million to implement something they call Pothole Palooza and $750,000 investment in the CVB to market and promote Augusta as a global destination.
The proposal also allocates a $6 million “investment” in emergency rental assistance and relief for landlords.
On Tuesday, Nov. 2, the Augusta Commission will host a public meeting to discuss the proposed budget before a final vote on Nov. 19.
Scott Hudson is the Senior Reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
