The city council of North Charleston has just given preliminary approval to a $157 million operating budget for the upcoming fiscal year, marking a nearly 7 percent increase from the current budget. This uptick, however, represents a slightly less than 3 percent rise from the current budget’s actual revenues.
The new budget largely mirrors the current one, with two departments alone constituting just over half of the city’s budget for the next fiscal year.
The police department is allocated a budget of $44.1 million, while the fire department receives $31 million. Fire officials have indicated that the additional funds will contribute to purchasing a new pumper truck that was deferred during the pandemic. The police department did not provide comments.
Furthermore, the budget includes a 3% raise for city employees. Officials have emphasized that they managed to balance the budget without tapping into reserves or implementing tax increases this year.
