BUCKHANNON – The City of Buckhannon is on track to produce a record budget for the 2021-2022 fiscal year, buoyed by an influx of funds from the 1 percent sales tax that went into effect last January. The additional funding will allow the city to significantly strengthen its essential services, from public safety to infrastructure.
Buckhannon City Council is currently considering a budget of more than $5 million for the upcoming fiscal year. As part of that process, elected officials have been meeting to discuss funding proposals from the departments that encompass the City of Buckhannon’s general fund — the Street and Parks Department, the Buckhannon Police Department, the Buckhannon Fire Department, the Mayor’s Office and Stockert Youth & Community Center.
On Tuesday, Buckhannon Fire Chief J.B. Kimble implored council to invest in three additional full-time career firefighters, which would cost the city an additional $170,000 per year in salaries and benefits. That would bring the fire department’s budget up to about $1 million annually.
Kimble’s request was the largest and most notable because it could eventually lead to the implementation of a first-due fire fee. Even though the fire department responds to emergencies in an area encompassing roughly 54 square miles, city residents fund the bulk of the department’s operations. With a first-due fire fee, county residents in that area would also help financially support the department.
The request is just one of a slew of budget proposals council will have to take into consideration when finalizing their budget this year. The street department wants to purchase a new front loader, and police chief Matt Gregory has requested merit-based salary increases for his employees and a larger investment in VIPS, the Volunteers in Police Service program. Debora Brockleman, executive director of the SYCC, wants to hire a third full-time employee, and city hall is in dire need of a new roof.
Several outside entities – including the Upshur County Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Upshur County Development Authority and others – have also asked for dollars to support their work.
And the city has those dollars to spend. This will mark the first year of budgeting in which Buckhannon City Council can use a full year’s worth of its 1 percent sales tax to invest in general fund departments.
Since the sales tax went into effect Jan. 1, 2020, the city has collected close to $1.6 million, most of which has come in since the beginning of the current fiscal year, city finance and administrative director Amberle Jenkins said.
As the budget sessions began, Jenkins presented a draft base budget of $5.1 million – roughly the same as last year – upon which council will add any new department requests that are approved. The final 2019-20 budget was about $4.5 million in comparison.
In the base proposal, the street department is set to receive about $1.5 million, followed by the police department (about $1.2 million), fire department ($797,000) and SYCC ($376,000). Those numbers could increase – particularly the fire department – if council agrees to the various requests presented over the last two weeks.
Jenkins also incorporated a 30-cents per hour across-the-board cost of living raise for all city employees.
Please stay tuned as My Buckhannon examines the department budgets in depth in upcoming articles.
