Savannah passes $560 million budget for 2024 behind increases in tax revenue
Savannah City Council passed its $560 million 2024 budget Tuesday, with a nearly unanimous 8-1 vote. The budget is up $70 million from 2023 largely due to increased tax revenue, although the city did not raise the sales or property tax rates.
Property tax revenues increased nearly $12 million from the 2023 budget, and sales tax revenues increased about $10 million. The city also added an extra $15 million in hotel-motel tax revenue.
"We're seeing the benefit of a growing, thriving city," said District 4 Alderman Nick Palumbo.
The increase in pay for city workers will raise the average annual salary for city employees from $47,000 to $54,000, according to the city's budget document. The total investment in increase in public pay, which includes a raise for minimum starting salaries for police and fire, comes in at about $13 million.
The compensation plan for city staff is designed to move employees along their pay band throughout their tenure. City research shows Savannah has competitive starting and ending salaries, but there is room for improvement along the way, said City Manager Jay Melder at the city's budget retreat on Nov. 14.
"It is desperately and so needed," said At-Large Post 2 Alderwoman Alicia Miller Blakely while thanking city staff for their work.
The increased minimum starting salary for police will jump from $50,013 to $51,263, and fire-starting salaries will jump from $48,000 to $49,200. During Thursday's meeting, District 6 Alderman Kurtis Purtee listed the starting police salaries for neighboring municipalities such as Tybee Island and Garden City, and they were all above Savannah's starting salaries.
Purtee voted in favor of the budget, but said he had concerns about Savannah's officer pay compared to other municipalities.
"How do we compete with something like that?" Purtee asked at the meeting.
Melder said that between cost-of-living adjustments and raises in the new budget, all officers will receive a 5% pay increase. That increase will go into effect on January 1, Melder said. Melder also said the city is trending in the right direction with its recruiting, with vacancy numbers decreasing.
Waterfront, Water Works and Tide-to-Town among hotel-motel tax beneficiaries
The new budget will also feature the first year of collections from an 8% hotel-motel tax increase. The projected collections for 2024 come in at $45 million, which is up from $30 million in 2023's adopted budget. Next year's budget has about $6 million for tourism product development, which includes projects such as the Savannah Waterfront Redevelopment, the Historic Water Works Building and Tide-to-Town.
The 2024 budget document lists a few priority areas: public safety; housing, homelessness and community support; and recreation, arts and culture. For housing, $2.5 million will be added to the Savannah Affordable Housing Fund. One recreation project includes $1.2 million for a "signature playground" at Daffin Park. There is also budgeted money for a $1.2 million public safety facility in New Hampstead.
Want to learn more about the hotel-motel tax?
Public comment on next year's budget was minimal. There were four comments during the first public hearing on Nov. 21 and zero during the final hearing on Thursday. One of the public commenters on Nov. 21 was Patrick Kelsey, executive director of the Arts and Culture Alliance of Chatham County.
Kelsey advocated for more funding opportunities to support organizations hosting cultural events. One avenue Kelsey has pointed to were programs such as the Arts and Cultural Enrichment Program. Funding for the program has stayed level since 2021. Meanwhile, applications to the program have steadily increased.
"The problem is that the impact of the arts and cultural industry here in the area is undersupported," Kelsey said.
Evan Lasseter is the city and county government reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at ELasseter@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah passes budget with pay increases
