Tax hike? Fayetteville budget driven by rise in police and fire pay, public safety concerns

May is budget season. Hold up, don't leave.

Budgets may seem boring but only if you see them as just numbers.

What they really tell you is how the 10 members of the Fayetteville City Council think — what they value. In fact the budget "begins and ends" with the city's strategic plan, which a city website says is "a roadmap employed by many local governments to guide the use of money, personnel and resources to realize a shared vision of the future."

City staff tries to shape budget priorities based on what council members discuss and prioritize in regular meetings and work sessions — which are also basically meetings.

City Manager Doug Hewett presented the proposed Fiscal Year 2025 budget, which clocks in at around $320 million, at a meeting May 13. Afterward, he presented to council a schedule that lists a required public hearing, scheduled for May 28, during its regular meeting. The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. in the council chambers in City Hall downtown.

Also: A work session is scheduled for June 3, and adoption of the budget is projected for June 10. That schedule could change; council has until the end of June to adopt a budget.

“I’m looking forward to the public hearing, so our community has the opportunity to give some input and feedback,” said Councilwoman Courtney Banks-McLaughlin.

So, you heard her, public.

The budget has not been approved yet; here is some of what is being proposed.

Public safety; taxes going up

So what is on our council’s mind? Public safety.

I am not surprised, it has been in the public discourse for a while, especially after the post-pandemic spike in homicides (which incidentally, are down this year, in line with national trends.) I am sure council members get an earful in person and in their email inboxes.

They are serious enough about it to be raising our taxes.

Among those recommended taxes is a $.05 increase in the ad valorem tax rate, which afterward would be 0.5895 per $100,000 valuation.

“The recommended tax rate and rate increases result in a $6.00 monthly increase for a house valued at $100,000,” is what is printed in the margins of the budget summary presented to the council at the meeting.

This will fund $8.3 million for public safety measures, the summary states.

Police officers and firefighters

One goal of the increase is to bump pay for police officers, who are in high demand and where Fayetteville finds itself in fierce competition with other departments around the state and country. Pay increases for firefighters are also recommended.

The plan is to bring city pay for certain positions in line with the market rate, a tab that would be $5.8 million this budget year for police and $2.5 million for fire. Several telecommunicators, i.e. dispatcher jobs, are recommended for pay increases. Among other pay raises: Entry-level police officer salaries would go from $43,860 to $50,555, and entry-level firefighter positions would go from $40,800 to $45,000.

Office of Community Safety ... and more?

Meanwhile, advocates for police reform are apparently being heard, to some degree. The recommended budget sets aside $4 million for an Office of Community Safety and “related activities.” Advocates for an OCS see it as a way for mental health professionals, social workers and related professionals to assist officers on certain call-outs and reduce the risk of a violent interaction involving law enforcement.

More: Pitts: Can policing look different in Fayetteville? A Durham-based documentary sets the stage.

The proposed budget's $4 million figure is derived through a mix of sources — general fund and block grant money and funds from the American Recovery Plan Act, federal funds made available through President Joe Biden’s administration.

The recommended budget has an expansive definition of OCS activities. While it does designate $103,374 for a mental health liaison, it also lumps the SoundThinking Detection system, formerly ShotSpotter, under “violence prevention and interruption.” That surprised me. The system, which is in a trial phase, has been controversial, and Councilman Mario Benavente is among people who has questioned whether it leads to targeting residents in parts of the city it is supposed to protect. Notably, Durham ended its contract with ShotSpotter and decided not to renew it, finding it insufficiently effective.

More: Pitts: Fayetteville ShotSpotter had a rocky start. How did a handcuffed man end up shot?

“There seems to be quite an amalgamation of different departments … to really dissect what these dollar figures are, where they go and how they’re spent,” Benavente said of the OCS budget. He said he looked forward in particular to learn more about some of the Fayetteville Police Department programs in the OCS budget, including nonprofit partnerships through Economic & Community Development.

Benavente said he wanted “a robust discussion about what ought to be included toward the Office of Community Safety.”

Trash pickup

So what else is on council members’ minds, if we let the budget tell it?

For one, trash pickup. The budget recommends the city raise the solid waste fee $10 to $275. This follows a 17.7% increase in that fee from last year. The fee increase would appear on homeowners tax bills, which as we all know has already increased for many due to a statewide hike in insurance rates.

We city residents also pay county solid waste fees.

Not widgets, but service

Hewett, in presenting the budget, underscored the challenge to recruitment and retention.

“If someone asks you what is the main product of city government, what would you say?” Hewett asked the council rhetorically. “It’s service.

“We don’t create widgets. We don’t sell fruit. We don’t build houses always. But we provide service to the citizens.

“And the services that we provide — whether it be a trash truck, whether it’s police, fire, parks and rec — is done by staff, and we cannot do that unless we are able to recruit and retain qualified staff.”

Opinion Editor Myron B. Pitts can be reached at mpitts@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3559.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Will Fayetteville residents have a tax increase?