COLUMBIA, S.C. — To address budgeting priorities, Columbia city council on Tuesday approved a priority/zero-based budget to help redirect funding within city departments.
The budget method allows the city to take funds not being used in some departments for use in other city agencies who need it.
"I think it's the absolute best time to step back, rebuild our budget from scratch, determine what's important for the citizens and what's going to make us a great city going forward and make sure we're spending our money in the right place," said Council Member Joe Taylor. "We're just making sure we’re operating in the highest and the best way."
"I just think it’s an appropriate time, coming out of COVID, and with the openings that we have, to really look for a whole new way to build things and to better serve the citizens of Columbia," Taylor said.
The plan requires agencies to build a budget that identifies how much they plan to use for the upcoming year. The current budget is based off the previous year's expenses.
"What we’re trying to do is make sure that what we’re spending provides the best returns to the citizens—who are our customers," said Columbia Mayor Daniel Rickenmann.
Rickemann told News 19 the city manager and city council will prioritize the needs for the city. Those priorities are determined by hearing the concerns from the community, including safety and cleanliness, and from what city employees are seeing internally.
"I think it’ll be very transparent so they’ll understand where every dollar is spent," Rickenmann said. "I think it will allow them to see improvement in services and quality of services, which is a lot of giving our staff what they need to do their job."
The mayor said no jobs cuts will be made and the city is neither saving nor spending money, but moving funds around within the city.
"We’re utilizing the money to it’s best abilities," Rickenmann said. "You’re not trying to say 'Oh, we saved all this money because we cut this.' You want to redirect those funds."
The next steps toward a final budget includes hearing all the proposed budgets by all the city departments, and having them approved and prioritized by city leadership.
The budget needs to be finalized by July 1, when the new fiscal year starts.