Soaring property values and a continuing boom in new development in Richmond have given City Hall the money to propose major pay increases for police officers, firefighters and other city employees.

Mayor Levar M. Stoney included the pay hikes as a key element of the record $836 million general fund spending plan for the 2022-23 fiscal year that he presented to City Council last Friday. The budget proposal is a $51 million

increase over the current $785 million budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year that ends June 30.

The mayor’s proposal would amount to an expenditure of $3,688 for each of the estimated 226,623 men, women and children in the city, up $225 per person from the current budget.

Buoyed by prospects of continued growth in the coming years, Mayor Stoney proudly touted the fact that the budget does not include any tax increases, although the rising values of houses, land and buildings has meant that property owners are paying higher taxes despite the rate staying fixed at $1.20 per $100 of assessed value.

The spending plan includes some increases, including proposed hikes in utility rates that will boost the average customer’s collective cost of water, sewer, natural gas and stormwater abatement by $100 a year and a $1 a month boost in the cost of trash collection that will increase the price tag $12 a year.

City Council, which will have the final say, already is cranking up its review process of the full spending package that tops $2 billion for the first time when all funds, such as public utilities, grants, capital spending and internal services, are included.

Mayor Stoney said the budget plan he presented “reflects the priorities of the city,” including “the value of investing in the city employees who serve us.”

Under the mayor’s plan, more than $30 million is to be poured into pay increases, with more than $20 million going to public safety employees.

As repeated council resolutions had urged, police officers and firefighters would be the biggest winners in this budget plan, which is fueled in large part by a projected 13 percent increase in real estate tax collections along with smaller increases in sales tax collections, based on expectations of a continuing rebound from the pandemic.

Currently, Richmond police officers and firefighters are among the lowest paid in the area, with starting pay for a recruit at around $43,000.

Under the administration’s proposed 27-step pay plan, starting pay for recruits would jump to more than $49,000 a year, rising to more than $51,000 after they graduate from the academy and become patrol officers or new firefighters.

According to the mayor’s budget, $20 million to be poured into the police and fire departments would cover the cost of the pay raises, which could average $15,000 a year for the sworn personnel.

Overall, the mayor noted that more than 80 percent of police and firefighters would receive a 15 percent pay bump, with 95 percent gaining an increase of 10 percent in a bid to enable city pay to catch up with that of surrounding jurisdictions.

“Our first responder plan not only makes RPD and RFD salaries highly competitive in the region, but puts them among the highest in the Commonwealth,” the mayor told the council in his budget address. “I am committed to our city staying competitive and keeping pace with first responder pay.”

Police Officer Brendan Leavy, president of the Richmond Coalition of Police that represents more than 300 members of the city police force, called the proposal “a good step in the right direction.”

“We asked for a new pay plan, we got a new pay plan. We asked for it to be fully funded and implemented July 1, and it will be as long as it passes City Council,” said Officer Leavy, who served on the city’s internal pay plan committee. Still, he added, “the pay plan is not perfect, and the city administration has acknowledged that, too. So we will continue working on it.”

The mayor’s plan also provides a 5 percent pay hike for all city employees— the largest in years—although the cost was not specified. In February, after certifying additional income from real estate tax collections in the current budget year, the administration spent $8.9 million providing $3,000 pandemic bonuses to city personnel in February. A review of the books indicates the 5 percent pay hike will cost more than $12 million.

The spending plan also would boost the minimum pay for the lowest paid city workers to $17 an hour, a $5 an hour increase from current levels. At $17 an hour, that would be the highest minimum wage for City Hall workers ever.

The budget plan also includes a $15 million increase to Richmond Public Schools, largely to cover the cost of a 5 percent pay hike for teachers and other staff. If council approves it, the city’s contribution to public education would jump to a record $200 million for operations.

However, the mayor continued the city’s long-standing practice of providing only a fraction of the spending that RPS has identified as needed to maintain current buildings. His separate capital budget proposal would provide only $2.5 million for that purpose, or $6.5 million less than RPS requested.

The mayor’s spending plan also would double spending on an eviction diversion program from around $360,000 to $727,000 and provide small increases in funding for mental health services and GRTC.

In addition, the mayor proposes to add $1.5 million to enable the city Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities to maintain robust after-school programs, with that money aimed to replace previous support from Richmond Public Schools.

The capital plan would provide funding for demolishing the vacant Richmond Coliseum as a first step to redeveloping the surrounding land and also provide $10 million to begin planning for replacing City Hall and the John Marshall Courts Building and for creating a new public safety campus for the police and fire departments. All three projects are still distant prospects.

The mayor also included $28 million in his capital plan for the long-awaited development of a slavery memorial in Shockoe Bottom, a major center in the trade of human beings before the Civil War. He told the council that initial funding would go to planning and design, with hopes the first phase could be bid later in 2022.

The mayor also called for investing $15 million to maintain city buildings, or about half the amount previously recommended; spending $10 million to buy fire trucks, police cars and trash trucks; and spending $17 million on street paving.

But despite the huge boost in revenue, some are bemoaning what is not in the budget. For example, the mayor did not include a cost-of-living increase for the city’s retirees.

And no money was included in the proposal to restore $1 million that was cut from the Richmond Ambulance Authority subsidy in the current year. Ambulance authority officials have warned that the reduced subsidy is diminishing its ability to respond to emergency calls.