Vista Yellow Shirts to get half-year funding – so far
Businesses in the Vista will get enough money from Columbia City Council to keep their Yellow Shirt program running for half of the upcoming fiscal year, council indicated Tuesday.
Council had to cobble together the $108,800 to pay for the popular clean-up and security crews that patrol the entertainment district. But the nearly $109,000 will keep the Yellow Shirts there only from July through New Year’s Eve.
The Vista Guild has requested $225,000 for the entire fiscal year that ends June 30, 2017. Council has not yet decided whether it will pay for the full year.
The Vista has had the program three years and wants to continue it from money being channeled to the Vista’s program through City Center Partnership. That organization had fronted the Vista much of the money and is seeking reimbursement from council.
Council was able to come up with a half year of funding by using $83,800 in meal tax revenue that had been earmarked for the arts advocacy group OneColumbia and $25,000 previously targeted toward security cameras, the city’s budget director, Missy Caughman, said.
At Tuesday’s budget workshop, council did not discuss how it would pay for the second half of fiscal 2016-2017 money for the Vista program. The entertainment district ranks second among Columbia’s largest generators of the 2-percent meal tax that is paid largely by patrons of the city’s restaurants and bars.
No one on council objected Tuesday to plans to fund OneColumbia next year using hotel and motel taxes, which have fewer state law restrictions on the uses of the money, combined with general fund dollars. An audit determined that OneColumbia was improperly spending meal tax revenue.
Council also directed City Manager Teresa Wilson to compile a list of all big-ticket funding requests for meal-tax dollars in time for next Tuesday’s meeting as council moves closer to final decisions on upcoming year’s city budget.
Other action
City Council appears to have endorsed the city manager’s proposal to add 26 new full-time and 21 part-time jobs to Columbia’s workforce at a cost of $2.1 million in salaries and set-up expenses. Council did not vote to approve the positions yet, but none of the six members who attended Tuesday spoke against the hiring plan. Here is a breakdown:
▪ 17 new positions in the water and sewer department at a cost of $1.4 million. Most of the new jobs are for the city to meet requirements of a court-ordered overhaul of the sewer system, city staffers said.
▪ 5 new workers at the city’s animal shelter at a cost of $150,000. That number was cut from 7 at a cost of $300,000.
▪ 2 new code enforcers at a cost of $225,000.
▪ 1 accounts technician for the finance department at a cost of $50,000.
▪ 1 additional staffer for Mayor Steve Benjamin’s office. The fourth position is being crafted by reducing salaries of two vacancies and changing job descriptions, Benjamin said. Columbia’s budget director said there will not be a net increase in the mayor’s budget.
▪ 21 part-time lifeguards for the new Greenview Aquatic Center at a cost of $200,000.
This story was originally published May 10, 2016 at 8:53 PM.