Final Adopted Budget FY23-24

To this end, the proposed budget recommends additional revenues from a property tax rate increase of 4 cents per $100 of assessed value, primarily to address costs related to new public safety and general employee pay increases and personnel costs related to the development review process. The total General Fund budget for FY 2023-24 is $399.7 million, an increase of 7.2% over the prior year. The General Fund provides funding for the majority of our programs and services, and is primarily supported through receipts from property and sales tax. I submit to you the FY 2023-24 recommended budget of $749.6 million, which includes $627.7 million for operations (8.1% increase), $25.5 million for capital (3.2% annual increase), and $96.4 million for debt service (15.7% annual increase). Compared to FY 2022 23, the total budget increases by 8.8%.

Council Strategic Priorities At its Annual Strategy Session, Council outlined the following priorities to guide future policy decisions:

While a Strategic Framework is being developed (for completion in the summer of 2023) to provide details of these priorities, this budget is driven by these priorities. The major drivers of this cost increase include the following and are discussed in more detail below: . x Compensation for public safety and general employees, x New positions, mostly related to development review services, x Maintenance and Operations Compensation Increases This budget continues progress toward Council's desire to support and provide for our employees. We recognize the need for our city to compete successfully in a tight labor market. According to the UNC School of Government, the top three professional areas with the highest turnover and most difficult to recruit for are: Law Enforcement, Water/Sewer, and Street Operations. In FY 2022-23 we increased salaries for Fire 9% to 21%, Police 9% to 12%, and General Employees 9%. These increases include the Council accelerated 4% increase for all employees implemented in February of 2023. Building on the compensation increases implemented in FY 2022-23, the FY 2023-24 budget recommends an increase of 10.6% for Police Officers across the Department beginning in September. Starting salaries for officers increase 13.1% to $52,459 annually. Similarly, I recommend a 4% increase for our Firefighters beginning in December 2023. This will increase our Firefighters’ starting salaries 6.4% to $47,812 annually. These increases fulfill my commitment to Council during the FY 2022-23 process to bring starting salaries for our Police Officers and Firefighters in line with the market. In addition to these recommended increases, the FY 2023 24 budget also includes 4% average merits and 4% general steps for all other eligible employees. This effectively raises our base salary from $33,097 to $35,360 annually.

Adopted 2023-24 Budget

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