City’s Personnel Expenses Increase $16 Million Despite Staffing Shortage
It’s no secret that the Columbus Consolidated Government has severe staffing shortages. However, City Manager Isaiah Hugley’s budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year shows more than a $16 million increase in personnel expenses compared to the year before. Explore the full story to see the side-by-side comparison of how Hugley’s unbalanced budget managed to bloat the city’s payroll expenses to 57% of the city’s entire overall budget.
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An artistic expression of Columbus, Georgia’s city manager, Isaiah Hugley, superimposed on a colorized image of the city council meeting held on June 13, 2023. The city’s proposed budget, prepared by Hugley, contains an increase in personnel expenses of more than $16 million, despite the city’s continued staffing shortage.
Image Credit:
Muscogee Muckraker
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An artistic expression of Columbus, Georgia’s city manager, Isaiah Hugley, superimposed on a colorized image of the city council meeting held on June 13, 2023. The city’s proposed budget, prepared by Hugley, contains an increase in personnel expenses of more than $16 million, despite the city’s continued staffing shortage.
Image Credit:
Muscogee Muckraker
By
Muscogee Muckraker
Published
June 20, 2023
Updated
January 8, 2024 2:54 PM
ET
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The increase comes amid the city’s continued staffing shortage.
Back in June of 2022, the city approved last year’s budget for the current fiscal year. That budget included a total of $174 million in personnel expenses, which accounted for 54.6% of the city’s entire budget.
Now, the city manager’s proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year contains a bloated total of more than $190 million in personnel expenses, which now accounts for 57% of the city’s entire budget — despite the severe staffing shortages that city manager Isaiah Hugley has constantly reminded everyone about.
Here’s a detailed summary of last year’s personnel expenses compared to this year’s proposal.
FY2023
According to page 92 of the Columbus Consolidated Government’s FY23 Budget Book, which is available on the city’s website as a pdf, the city’s personnel expenses for the past fiscal year were as follows:
General Government Salaries, Wages & Overtime: $57,515,553
Public Safety Salaries, Wages, & Overtime: $64,650,494
FICA Contributions: $9,179,978
General Government Retirement: $3,363,796
Public Safety Retirement: $9,228,153
Group Health Care Contribution: $16,094,740
Group Life Insurance: $551,706
Other Benefits & Administrative Fees: $13,517,666
Total: $174,102,086
A page from the Columbus Consolidated Government’s FY2023 Budget Book shows a total personnel expenditure of $174 million. Image source: Muscogee Muckraker
FY2024
According to page 88 of the city’s current budget proposal for the upcoming 2024 fiscal year, which is also available from the city’s website as a pdf, the city’s proposed personnel expenses for the upcoming FY2024 are as follows:
General Government Salaries, Wages & Overtime: $67,551,632
Public Safety Salaries, Wages, & Overtime: $73,102,985
FICA Contributions: $10,750,892
General Government Retirement: $3,893,165
Public Safety Retirement: $11,625,862
Group Health Care Contribution: $16,883,815
Group Life Insurance: $644,824
Other Benefits & Administrative Fees: $6,023,458
Total: $190,476,633
A page from the Columbus Consolidated Government’s proposed FY2024 Budget Book shows a total personnel expenditure of more than $190 million, which is a $16 million increase from the previous year despite known staffing shortages. Image source: Muscogee Muckraker
We’ll let you as the reader come to your own conclusions about how that $16 million increase came to be.
Facts are stubborn things — and we’ll keep publishing them, whether city officials like them or not.
Be sure to follow Muscogee Muckraker on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to see all the muck that’s fit to print as it breaks throughout the coming week.
