Columbia’s city manager will outline his budget blueprint on July 11th at city hall. De’Carlon Seewood will deliver his budget address that day at noon in the council chambers, and you are invited.
Columbia’s current operating budget is about $533-million, which included $10-million in pay raises for the city’s 1,500 city employees. City employee compensation has been Mr. Seewood’s top priority. He tells 939 the Eagle it’s linked with the recruitment and retention of city employees.
One issue we may hear about in the budget message is affordable housing, which was highlighted in Mr. Seewood’s state of the city address in late May. The Columbia Board of Realtors says the average price of a home sold in April increased four percent to $396,000, while the median home price sold increased to $360,000.
Mr. Seewood says Columbia is grappling with a housing crisis.
