Columbia City Council unanimously approved the fiscal year 2022 budget at the city council meeting on Monday, Sept. 20.
The budget goes into effect Oct. 1 and will continue through Sept. 30, 2022. While about half of the money in the proposed budget document will go toward utility services, portions of it were also proposed to be allocated to other departments, like 11.63% to public safety and 11.93% to city transportation.
Upon approval, the amended budget totaled $483 million.
The city also included a recommended use of funds from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 in the proposal document even though the funds are not included in the 2022 city budget. The proposal allocated $10 million of the funds to making internet access more affordable to Columbia citizens. Homelessness, mental health treatment and community violence prevention were also included in the recommendation.
City Manager John Glascock first introduced the budget at the July 29 meeting.
According to the proposed budget document, “The annual budget is the mechanism used to allocate city resources to departments in order to be able to deliver effective and efficient services to our customers.”
Monday’s meeting was the last public hearing for the city’s budget. The City Council held two previous public hearings on Aug. 16 and Sept. 7. Citizens of Columbia shared their concerns and readdressed how the budget will meet citizens’ needs.
Traci Wilson-Kleekamp, president of Race Matters, Friends, was one of the many citizens to speak. Race Matters, Friends is a local nonprofit that focuses on racial equity in the city. Wilson-Kleekamp said the budget does not reflect previous dialogue about properly serving the community.
“When I look at our budget, I don’t see that we have addressed equity, and certainly the process has not been one of inclusion,” Wilson-Kleekamp said.
She urged the City Council to make public hearings and meetings more accessible to community members with jobs, families or physical disabilities.
Funding was the main topic of conversation during the public hearings due to debate on the inclusion of ARPA funds in the budget document. Ward 4 Council Member Ian Thomas said the inclusion confused both the City Council and citizens of Columbia since the funds aren’t included in the 2022 budget. He said he is in favor of a robust process for allocating ARPA funds.
“It seems as though there are two major decisions that we have to make,” Thomas said. “One is what we spend the money on, and secondly, what process do we use to decide what we spend the money on. [The] process should come first.”
Ward 3 Council Member Karl Skala asked for the council to wait to discuss how they will use ARPA funds. He proposed the ARPA funds discussion should take place at the Oct. 4 meeting.
Skala said the city already has $12.5 million of ARPA funds in the bank that could be used within the next year for people who need urgent assistance. Mayor Brian Treece said the other half of the funds will be sent to the city in May 2022.
For now, the City Council will wait to vote on how they will allocate the total $25 million in ARPA funds. They are currently forming an arrangement of discussion and public hearings before making any final decisions.
Edited by Emmet Jamieson | ejamieson@themaneater.com
