General Fund Fiscal Year 2022 Budget

The General Fund has a Fiscal Year 2022 Budget of $172,702,401 in expenditures and $166,257,308 in revenues before transfers.

Click here for a Citizen's Guide to the Budget Process. Learn how the Budget is created and view a timeline of events.

Click here to view the FY 2022 Budget Book and here to read the FY 2022 Budget Ordinance.

Click here for a glossary of terms used in this page and the FY 2022 Budget Book.

FY 2022 Budget Highlights

The FY 2022 operating budget expenditures total $172,702,401 – up $9,201,352 or 5.6% from FY 2021. There is no increase to the Property Tax rate; the budget was balanced with use of $6.17 million from the Tax Stabilization Reserve.

The budget contains a $1.9 million allowance for an up to 2.0% cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) salary increase for eligible employees. In addition, mandatory anniversary salary step increases for classified service employees added $754,200 to the budget.

Staffing in the General Fund decreased by a net total of 2.92 full-time equivalents (FTE) and includes changes made in the mid-FY 2021 budget amendment, along with the results of the latest biennial employee appeals process. Those changes, along with other personnel actions, including changes in grades and salary adjustments, resulted in a total net decrease of $496,591. The component cost of the appeals process in the General Fund was $111,374.

For an additional temporary personnel cost of $123,000, Parks & Recreation Department is expanding the summer pool program to run for 10 weeks instead of the usual 8 weeks. In addition, pools will be now open six days a week, seven hours a day.

Funding of $350,000 was added to the Mayor’s Office for the creation of a Gun Violence Prevention Program ($300,000) and to institute a Police Citizens Review Board Panel ($50,000).

Funding for the Neighborhood Clean Team program, which hires local residents to clean streets and neighborhoods, increased by $300,000 to a new total of $700,000 to allow for expansion of the program.

Click here for more FY 2022 Budget Highlights.

Breakdown of FY 2022 Budgeted Expenditures by Type

Breakdown of FY 2022 Budgeted Expenditures by Department

General Fund Staffing Levels Over Past 5 Years*

*Note: City staffing levels are measured in units of full-time equivalents (FTE). Many positions in the City are split-funded, which may result in a fractional FTE. For example, a position could be funded 60% from the General Fund and 40% from the Water/Sewer Fund, resulting in a 0.60 FTE in the General Fund.

Breakdown of FY 2022 Budgeted Revenues by Type

Overview of Budgeted Revenues

Total revenue before transfers and use of fund balance is projected to increase by a net $8.3 million or 5.3% above the FY 2021 budget, to a new total of $166,257,308. As the operating budget must be balanced per City Charter, FY 2022 includes a one-time use of $6.17 million from the General Fund’s Tax Stabilization Reserve. Inclusive of other transfers, this results in a total FY 2022 budget of $172,702,401, for an increase of nearly $9.2 million or 5.6%.

Wage & Net Profits Tax, the General Fund's largest source of revenue, is expected to grow by $4.2 million to a new total of nearly $70.1 million. Wage Taxes make up $64.1 million of this total and are expected to grow by nearly $4.1 million budget-to-budget in FY 2022. Note that we do not include any potential reduction in revenue associated with employees continuing to work from home in a residence outside the City. As wages from non-resident employees make up almost 75% of the City’s Wage Tax base, the effect could be significant if the work-from-home rate is high. While the City has experienced larger-than-normal FY 2021 refunds due to employees temporarily working from home, it is not yet possible to distinguish temporary wage tax reductions from permanent ones. Consequently, any estimate of additional lost revenue would be speculative at this point.

Property Taxes, the General Fund's second-largest source of revenue, are projected to total nearly $43.3 million, an increase of $1.1 million, or 2.6%, relative to the FY 2021 budget. Given that FY 2021 Property Tax revenues are projected to be largely unaffected by COVID, our estimate for FY 2022 does not include additional COVID effects and represents a return to historical revenue levels. There is no Property Tax rate increase in the FY 2022 budget.

Other Taxes, which includes Franchise Fees, Real Estate Transfer Tax, and Head Tax, is projected to increase by $1.1 million to a new FY 2022 total of $7.1 million. This growth is largely due to a $781,000 increase in residential Real Estate Transfer Tax. Contrary to the projections in the FY 2021 budget, Residential transfers did not fall off due to COVID but were instead boosted by historically low interest rates.