​ CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 3, 2021) – City Manager Marcus D. Jones presented his Proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Budget to the mayor and members of City Council today.

"While 2020 will be remembered for economic and social hardships, our resilience as a city and as a community has propelled our perseverance," Jones said. "We have worked together throughout the past fiscal year to sustain core services and advance key priorities. Our foundational budgeting principles have allowed us to weather the challenges of FY 2021 and will continue to be the solid foundation for our advancement in FY 2022. Driven by the City Council’s strategic priorities, this budget was developed to lead the City of Charlotte toward addressing the most pressing needs of our city."

Highlights of the proposed FY 2022 budget include:

• A balanced and fiscally responsible budget that:

• Does not increase taxes

• Does not reduce core services

• Does not use any operating reserves

• Does not layoff or furlough employees

• Does not delay any capital projects due to financial impacts

• Continues or increases investments in our community:

• Delivers a $14 million investment in Corridors of Opportunity to support housing and neighborhood stabilization and job and economic development initiatives

• Supports cultural and arts agencies throughout the city with a $4 million General Fund allocation; to be paired with $2 million of stimulus funding and $6 million of private funding for a total of $12 million of cultural and arts funding per year ($36 million over three years)

• Ensures we continue to lead in sustainability with $4.75 million for sustainable buildings and $1 million for electric vehicles to add 22 fully electric vehicles to the city’s fleet

• Funds completion of the Cross Charlotte Trail in the 5-year Capital Investment Plan (CIP)

• Provides funding to reimagine policing and implement SAFE Charlotte recommendations:

• Provides $1 million in new funding to Charlotte-based nonprofits addressing violence in the community

• Expands the Community Policing Crisis Response Team for service to mental health related calls for service

• Supports SAFE Charlotte recommendation to pilot alternative civilian response models

• Supports our community’s first responders

• Provides a 1.5 percent market adjustment and step (2.5-five percent) increase for eligible Public Safety Pay Plan employees

• Completes year three of a three-year plan to increase top pay for Firefighter II and Fire Engineer by 2.5 percent, and Fire Captain by 3.75 percent

• Increases the city’s contribution to the Charlotte Fire Fighters’ Retirement System by two percent beyond requirement

• Plans for our future through the 2022 bond for FY 2023 approval which includes:

• The third consecutive $50,000,000 allocation to create and preserve affordable housing

• More than triples the 2020 bond funding for the Sidewalk and Pedestrian Safety Program, from $15,000,000 to $50,000,000

• Doubles the 2020 bond totals for the Bike Program, from $4,000,000 to $8,000,000, and the Transportation Safety (Vision Zero) Program, from $2,000,000 to $4,000,000

• Invests $10,000,000 for infrastructure improvements in the Corridors of Opportunity

• Focuses on retaining and investing in our employees

• Provides a three percent salary increase for eligible general employees

• Raises minimum full-time pay to $38,090

• Reduces employee healthcare premiums by at least five percent, which results in a savings of $52 to $572 per year depending on the employee plan

• Reduces employee healthcare deductibles in eligible plans by $250

• Keeps fees low while supporting the needs of our community

• No Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) fare increase

• A 61 cent/month proposed Solid Waste fee increase to cover increased operating costs

• The Water and Sewer fee is proposed to increase by $2.33 per month for the typical homeowner primarily to cover capital infrastructure needs

• A 29 cent/month proposed increase in the Stormwater Services fee for the typical homeowner to accelerate capital project delivery

Additional Budget Highlights

Great Neighborhoods

• Continues focus on Corridors of Opportunity with $14 million in new pay-as-you-go funding to expand Corridors of Opportunity programs

• $7 million to support housing and neighborhood stabilization in the Corridors

• $7 million is planned to support economic development and jobs including

• Public-private partnerships

• Business support and redevelopment

• Investments in jobs and implementing recommendations from the strategic employment plan

Safe Communities

• In FY 2022, $120,040 from the General Fund will complement $879,960 in funding from the Community Development Block Grant for a total of $1 million in new funding to Charlotte-based nonprofits addressing violence in the community

• $1.15 million to support the development of an alternative civilian response model pilot to divert low-risk, lower-priority calls for service and mental health and homelessness dispatches toward civilian response teams

• $739,000 to expand the Community Policing Crisis Response Teams (CPCRT). By the end of the year we plan to double the number of Community Policing Crisis Response Teams

• Other SAFE Charlotte initiatives planned:

• An independent analysis of areas such as police-civilian contact and police calls and responses

• Analysis of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) youth program by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte to guide future funding and allocation of resources to the most effective youth programs within the community

• Review of issues related to recruitment and residency efforts within CMPD and a review of current curriculum and content delivered at the Police Academy as well as review on-going training provided throughout an officer’s career with CMPD

Transportation, Planning and the Environment

• To capitalize on FY 2021 infrastructure investments, including the first city-owned direct current fast charger, which can fully charge an electric vehicle in 30 minutes, FY 2022 includes the addition of 22 electric vehicles to the city’s fleet

• Proposed FY 2022 – FY 2026 CIP includes a total of $13.75 million to improve sustainability in city-owned facilities, including $4.75 million in FY 2022

Workforce Development

• Allocates $250,000 in funding to continue public-private collaboration to support minority entrepreneurs. Additional funding from the private sector has been secured totaling $250,000 from Atrium Health, for a total investment of $500,000

• Continues internal workforce pipelines through the Mayor’s Youth Employment Program and the Career Pathways program

• HIRE Charlotte will build open employment study findings and ensure Charlotte is proactive in aligning future business recruitment, retention and expansion efforts with a long-range talent development pipeline

The proposed budget will have a public hearing on May 10, followed by budget adjustments on May 19 and straw votes on May 26. The budget will be adopted in June and the 2022 fiscal year begins July 1, 2021.

To learn more about these and other important initiatives of the proposed FY 2022 budget please visit charlottenc.gov/budget.