Pay raises for police, more affordable housing and a tax increase all in Charlotte’s proposed budget

Charlotte city manager Marcus Jones unveiled a budget proposal that sets the tone for what investments the city wants to make over the coming year.

It addresses several priorities that council members had asked for — including more pay for police officers and more money for affordable housing — and finds some cost savings across multiple departments. But it also includes a tax increase.

Key facts:

–The total budget is $2.6 billion. One of the larger chunks is the general fund, which pays for police, fire, housing, solid waste, economic development, street lights and transportation. That piece of the pie is about 4 percent bigger this year, under the budget proposal.

–The property tax increase proposed is 1 cent per $100 valuation, which would bring the total tax rate to 48.87 cents in the city of Charlotte. So the owner of a $250,000 house would pay $1,221.75 in property tax to the city — $25 more than they had previously. (This is on top of the Mecklenburg County property tax, which is nearly twice as high).

This will bring in an additional $9.8 million in revenue to the city.

–Police would get a combined $4.2 million in salary increases, which includes 6.5 percent raises for current officers and a higher starting salary for new recruits. For officers without a college degree, the starting salary is currently $43,492. That would go to $46,352. Officers with a four-year degree will now start at $51,000.

–Jones said the budget saves $13.7 million by re-evaluating contracts and cutting department budgets.

–Both salaried and hourly employees get a 3 percent raise.

–Charlotte’s sidewalk and pedestrian safety program gets its budget doubled, from $15 million to $30 million.

–Mayor Vi Lyles called for increasing the city’s affordable housing fund from $15 million to $50 million. That shows up in the budget.

You can see a full breakdown on the city’s website here.

Why this matters:

A city’s budget is a pretty clear illustration of its priorities. Charlotte is showing that it’s willing to raise taxes to spend on the initiatives it favors.

City Council will spend the next few weeks debating the proposal before it gets voted on.