Wilmington City Council Holds First Budget Work Session Of 2022 Employee compensation, competitive grants, and capital improvement projects among discussion

By Press release submission

Jan 31, 2022

City of Wilmington issued the following announcement on Jan. 28.

Wilmington City Council met Friday, Jan. 28 to give guidance and set priorities for the FY23 budget. Below is a summary of the meeting.

Budget Strategies

The FY23 budget will be shaped through a strategic approach using the outline below:

Acceleration of transportation projects
Remain competitive with compensation packages for employees
Expand the Rise Together Initiative
Cautiously increasing service delivery
Strategic use of fund balance for one-time expenditures
Prioritize enhancements based on strategic priorities
Aggressive cost projections, based on current trends and environment
Estimate revenues modestly, based on current trends and environment

Competitive Grant Processes

As part of the City of Wilmington’s commitment to support local organizations providing economic development opportunities and direct services to Wilmington residents who are disproportionately impacted by pervasive adversity, the city is reviewing applications for competitive grants.

Civic Partnership Program

The City received 17 applications – up from 11 application in FY20 – for the Civic Partnership Program grant, totaling more than $1 million requested in funds. The program budget is $566,000. Applications are currently being evaluated and no decisions have been made at this time. Council will receive an update at its next budget work session.

The goal of the program is to help the community strengthen its economic development support systems and to advance partnerships which lead to a robust employment environment by supporting organizations that will have a positive impact on business expansion, retention, and recruitment or cultural arts opportunities that draw visitors to the region. Grants are funded for three years.

Human Services Grant

The City received 38 applications for the Human Services grant, totaling more than $1.4 million in requested funds. The FY23-24 program budget is $689,489.

The grants will address five focus areas including: youth violence, economic prosperity, providing a safe haven, housing displacement, and access to nutritious food. The application breakdown by focus area is as follows:

Youth violence – 22 applications totaling $846,245.50 in requested funds
Economic prosperity – 13 applications totaling $573,957
Safe haven – 9 applications totaling $473,181
Housing displacement – 5 applications totaling $230,700
Access to nutritious food – 12 applications totaling $407,873

Applications are currently being evaluated and no decisions have been made at this time. Council will receive an update at its next budget work session. Grants are funded for two years.

Employee Compensation Study

The City of Wilmington performed a compensation study to assess the competitiveness against benchmark cities and surrounding communities to address turnover and retention. The study found that our employee compensation is modestly below the market average, with some positions more out of line than others. Of the 1,081 full-time positions the city has budgeted, 132 of those positions are vacant. With vacancies and medical leaves (up 91 percent since 2019), the average city employee is doing the work of 1.20 employees. While the city’s turnover rate is below the national average, impacts are being felt in our service delivery. City Council reiterated that recruiting and retaining a talented workforce remains a priority.

Capital Improvement Program (CIP)

Capital Improvement Programming is a critical procedure for identifying major facility needs, projecting fiscal resources, establishing priorities, and developing defined project schedules to meet the City of Wilmington capital needs. Capital projects, for the purpose of the Capital Improvement Program (CIP), are generally defined as fixed assets that have a useful life greater than five years, with a cost of $50,000 or greater.

Identified projects for FY23 include (but are not limited to):

Dirt street paving – $50,000
4th Street Bridge replacement – $250,000 for design (total estimated cost of the project is $4.5 million)
Front Street Bridge rehabilitation – $372,416 (total estimated cost of the project is $2.3 million)
Demolition of the Riverwalk (Best Western) Pier – $310,683
Fire station driveway repairs – $150,000
Market Street Deck renovations – $303,600
Whispering Pines/Masonboro Stormwater project – $1,229,850

Below is a summary of the FY23 CIP Preliminary Recommendations

FY23 CIP Preliminary Recommendations

American Rescue Plan Act Funding

The City of Wilmington received an approximately $26 million allocation from the American Rescue Plan Act, signed into law March 11, 2021. The money will be disbursed to the city through two installments of approximately $13 million, with the second installment expected in June 2022. The funds must be obligated by Dec. 31, 2024. The city received the first installment of $13 million earlier this year.

In accordance with U.S. Treasury ARP guidance and NC General Statute authorization, the City of Wilmington has allocated $9 million to economic and community assistance, $4.67 million to infrastructure investment, and $12.26 million to COVID-19 response and recovery. To date, the city has spent $7.1 million of ARPA funds and contracted $5.6 million.

Rise Together Initiative

City Council adopted the Rise Together Initiative in Aug. 2020 to ensure Wilmington is a community where every person is valued and shares in the same opportunities for prosperity and quality of life regardless of color, class, or creed. In that time, the city has established a core advisory team, launched an Equity and Inclusion Office and hired Joe Conway as its Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer, is undergoing an organizational and cultural assessment that includes an employee survey and roundtables with the community and local businesses, and more. Rise Together provides an equity framework for evaluating the budget to ensure services are delivered equitably and works toward bridging barriers to service.

Community Survey

The City of Wilmington performs a community survey every two years to gauge residents’ satisfaction and priorities. The 2021 survey found that residents place a high value on core city services like streets and sidewalks, stormwater infrastructure, and public safety. The city will release a full breakdown and analysis of the report in the coming weeks.

FY23 Budget Calendar