Pensacola's 2024 city budget sees 13% increase over last year. Where the money is going

Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves has proposed a $313.9 million city budget for his first full fiscal year as mayor.

The budget is a $36.5 million increase over the 2023 budget, which came in at $277.4 million.

Much of that is the Pensacola International Airport, with the airport fund growing by $23.7 million with $15.3 million in federal grants, $2.3 million in state grants, $3 million in parking lot revenue and $1.5 million in rental car revenue, along with other increases.

The increase in airport revenue will be used to fund improvements and repairs at the airport, according to information provided by city spokesperson Kaycee Lagarde. It's not uncommon for the airport budget to change by large amounts because of the difference in federal grants year by year.

Property tax revenues increased this year by 12.45% to a total of $24.1 million thanks to an increase in property valuations. While property tax bills may be the largest single tax city residents pay, they actually only make up 9.4% of the city's total budget and only 34.4% of the city's general fund budget.

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Nearly half of the city's budget comes from direct charges for services the city provides.

Another notable increase in the budget was a 5.8% increase for Public Safety, including the city's fire and police departments for a total budget of $43.5 million. The increase is largely for previously agreed to pay increases for the police and fire departments.

The Pensacola Police Department added two new officers focusing on downtown Pensacola, funded by the city's Community Redevelopment Agency.

The city Code Enforcement Division's 11 employees were also moved from the city's Sanitation Department to the PPD.

Reeves told the News Journal that the change was to increase communication to between the two departments and lead to a much more viable structure for the city.

"There are a lot more parallels to the calls they both receive," Reeves said.

Additionally, the city's neighborhood services office is now under the city's economic development office, Reeves said.

Reeves said the position of the Neighborhood Administrator would not be filled, and the current neighborhood services employee will work to incorporate workforce development into their role.

Reeves said Tuesday that this budget reflects his push for the city to maintain what it has instead of adding new projects.

"What you'll see (in the budget) is maintaining the things that we have and working from the inside out to make sure that we make this the best place we can to work and be a great city to work in," Reeves said.

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One issue not included in the budget is the outcome of the city's ongoing salary study, which is due to come out later this year.

Reeves said if pay changes need to be made, they would be phased in over time after a "meticulous" look at the data.

"Depending on what the data says, there could be a one-, two-, three-year kind of plan," Reeves said.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola's 2024 city budget proposal sees 13% increase over last year