By VICKI BROWN
The 2021-2022 General Fund Budget was presented to and considered by Walterboro City Council at the regularly scheduled meeting, held recently on May 4.
The budget will be voted on after a third reading and public hearing is conducted on June 1, 2021.
If approved, the proposed budget would be approximately $7,541,899 and with a property tax rate set at 86.4 mills.
More details are available on the city’s Web site at www.walterborosc.org.
According to the proposed budget, the budget for city council includes $219,811 in personnel expenses and operating costs. This is lower than personnel costs of $222,578 in the 2020-2021 budget.
The city manager’s expenditures include $384,776 in personnel and operating costs for the incoming year.
The budget also includes a proposed $399,581 in costs for the finance department, including personnel and operating costs; $193,016 for planning and development; approximately $1.03 million in public works expenses; and about $2.8 million in police expenses. The budget also has a proposed $209,284 in proposed judicial expenses for the coming fiscal year.
The proposed budget also includes $750,455 in parks department funding. This includes $394,847 in personnel expenses and $355,608 in operating costs.
The city’s tourism department could receive $163,425 in funding under the proposed budget. This includes $117,694 in personnel costs and $45,731 in operating costs for the parks department.
Under the proposed budget, the Walterboro Fire Department could receive approximately $1.32 million in funding, which includes about $1.1 million in personnel costs and about $250,235 in operating costs.
Lastly, the city’s Wildlife Center could receive $52,136 in funding, which includes $46,753 in operating costs and about $5,383 in personnel expenses.
All of these proposals are based on the manager’s recommendation to Walterboro City Council.
No vote has yet been taken. However, the city’s budget is set to be adopted and put into effect before July 1st.
In other Walterboro City Council news:
Paint the Town Purple plan approved
Walterboro City Mayor Bill Young and city council members were also asked to vote on a request submitted by the Colleton Relay for Life Committee member Jessica Cartrette.
The council granted permission to “Paint the Town Purple” the week of June 20th - 26th. As a part of this proposal, businesses and homeowners will be asked to decorate in purple to support of Relay for Life and enter a contest. A Relay for Life banner will be strung across Jefferies Blvd during the same week. The luminary service will be conducted at the Walterboro Wildlife Center amphitheater with all social distancing measures followed. Glowsticks will be placed in the luminaria bags at dark and a DJ will set up on the stage. All luminary and signs will be picked up that evening after 9 p.m.
Paperless billing discussed
The Finance Department solicited proposals from qualified vendors for utility billing services for the production and distribution of utility bills. The Finance Department also looked at the vendors’ ability to provide the option of paperless billing for interested customers. Staff recommended Arista Information Systems out of Duluth, G.A., to provide bill print and mailing services for the City. Arista will also provide a customer portal for easy access to view bills and to pay online at no cost to the City.
Two appointed to tax commission
City Manager Jeff Molinari recommended appointments to the Capital Project Sales Tax Commission. Holland Maness and Spencer Witkin expressed a willingness to serve and council unanimously passed their appointments.
USDA grants
Three resolutions were passed regarding the mayor and council applying for USDA Rural Development grants. The first grant will be in the amount of $50,000 or less to purchase a fire pumper truck. The second grant will be in the amount of $49,900 or less to purchase two police vehicles for the city of Walterboro. The last grant will be in the amount of $49,800 or less for the purchase of a backhoe for the city.
Mutual aid agreement continues
The Colleton County Sheriff’s Office entered into an agreement with the Walterboro Police Department several years ago for the purpose of working together in the event of natural or man-made disaster, missing persons, civil disorder, special events, emergency situations, and any other law enforcement activities. The mutual aid agreement must be approved by City Council is virtually identical to previous mutual aid agreements.
“This agreement we had with the previous sheriff just needed to get authorization from city council to sign an agreement with the newly elected Sheriff Hill,” said Jeff Molinari, city manager. “The mutual aid agreement is pretty straightforward. If the police department needs additional law enforcement assistance, we can ask the sheriff and if the sheriff’s department needs additional assistance, they can ask the police department for help.”
