Beaufort County Council passed the Fiscal Year 2022 $132.66 million budget Wednesday afternoon at a specially called Council meeting. The County budget was the only item on the agenda. Council voted 11-0 to approve the budget.

“This balanced budget is the result of a collaboration of efforts among numerous agencies, offices, departments, and staff County-wide,” said Eric Greenway, Beaufort County Administrator.  “We worked hard to present a budget that improved our services to County residents, anticipated the continued population growth, and was the best use of tax dollars.”

Budget highlights include:

• Froze operations millage rates in the property tax formula to minimize any tax increase
• 8% increase of tax revenue from population growth lead to a $2 million budget increase
• Realized approximately $800 thousand in personnel cost savings by eliminating unfilled staff positions
• Provided a $1.97 million increase to Emergency Medical Services in part to provide a pay raise to our first responders
• Reduced capital requests by $2 million from the general fund because of new federal spending programs
• Provided a $1.6 million increase to Parks and Recreation to expand services and explore expanding child after school and summer camp programs 
• Established a Solid Waste and Recycling Enterprise Fund to provide long-term stability and ensure designated resources are used to improve this service

“The staff was able to provide a balanced budget that accomplishes the goals set by the Council without having to change the property tax formula,” said Deputy County Administrator Whitney Richland. “Great care was taken to apply resources strategically and equitably across the departments and County as a whole.”

The County is also developing plans for capital improvement projects funded by directed state and federal budget money, the Federal American Recovery Act, federal grants, and the possible federal infrastructure bill. 

To watch a replay of this meeting or to watch all programming, find The County Channel on Comcast channel 2, Hargray channels 9 and 113, and Spectrum channel 1304. Viewers can also watch programming live and on-demand at The County Channel’s website at www.beaufortcountysc.gov/thecountychannel.