From staff reports
Beaufort City Council passed the City of Beaufort’s operating budget of $23,769,178 for Fiscal Year 2022 at its June 22 Regular Meeting. The fiscal year begins on July 1, 2021, and ends on June 30, 2022.
The budget includes a modest reduction in property taxes and reflects the City’s expectation that tourism will rebound in the coming year.
The $23.7 million comes in at 3.24 percent over the FY 2021 budget, and includes a 1.1 millage reduction, which means that homeowners will pay less in property tax.
General Fund appropriations, which includes most City of Beaufort departmental operations and debt service, are estimated to be $18.7 million. The Parks & Tourism Fund appropriations, which include some police operations, marine operations, Waterfront Park operations, parking operations and various downtown operations, are budgeted at $3.3 million.
The Stormwater Utility Fund is budgeted at $1.1 million, and the State Accommodations Fund, which includes various tourism and marketing functions, as well as grants, is budgeted for $491,686. The Fire Impact Fund is budgeted at $70,400.
Homeowners will see an increase in their monthly trash refuse fee, which last went up in 2014. It is increasing from $16.20 to $20 a month beginning with the July billing cycle. Capital Waste Services of Columbia will take over the City’s trash and recycling services beginning July 1.
The budget sets various fees for FY 2022, from special duty fees for police services to park deposit fees to building permit fees, which remain at FY 2021 levels.
The budget reflects no new debt.
The budget ordinance can be found at https://bit.ly/2TnhRG.
