Affordable housing, public safety and city employee pay are key highlights of Columbia city manager De’Carlon Seewood’s proposed $558-million budget, which is an increase of $12-million from last year.
Mr. Seewood unveiled his proposed budget on Thursday and is proposing the creation of an affordable housing trust fund. Mr. Seewood tells 939 the Eagle that standards say affordable housing should be no more than 30 percent of your gross income:
“Then when you look at our median income for our residents, it’s around $60,000. And so you look at that median income, you look at that affordability factor. So that means that a new home that’s built has to be built at around $180,000. And so, no one is building a home for $180,000 in the city of Columbia,” Seewood says.
The Columbia Board of Realtors says the average price of a home sold in Columbia in June was about $355,000. Mr. Seewood’s proposed budget includes $1.5 million for the affordable housing trust fund, which could be used for down payment assistance and rental assistance.
Meantime, city manager Seewood says public safety is and has always been a top priority for residents. He notes more than half of the city’s general fund expenditures are dedicated to public safety. Mr. Seewood was joined during the budget briefing by city finance director Matthew Lue:
“In total for fiscal year ’25, about $68-million or 51 percent of the general fund budget will go toward public safety. Of that $68-million, $33-million or 25 percent of the general fund, will be allocated to the CPD,” Mr. Lue says.
Columbia police chief Jill Schlude also spoke at the briefing, saying personnel expenses are 82 percent of CPD’s budget, about $27-million. Chief Schlude says CPD now has 30 vacancies for its 192 sworn positions. That has improved from 37 openings in May.
Inflation continues to impact Columbia’s budget, according to Mr. Lue. He tells reporters city revenues are increasing by two percent annually. But Lue notes expenditures are up eight percent:
“And the overall inflation rate though, that is the main cause of our issues is inflation. We’ve seen prices for fleet and some services double in some cases,” Mr. Lue says.
The city council plans three public hearings where you can testify about Mr. Seewood’s proposed budget: August 5, August 19 and September 3. The council is set to vote on the budget on September 16.
Columbia’s fiscal year begins on October 1.
