Residents who get help with their utility bills through a city-run assistance program could get less funding in the coming year.
The Columbia City Council on Monday heard a report from an audit of the city's Utility Assistance Program conducted by Rubin Brown. The audit found that residents who qualified for the program were receiving an average of more than $874 per person annually in benefits, much higher than similar-size cities that typically offer residents aid of $250 to $430.
During the 2027 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, the audit recommended that the city allocate a flat $400,000, rather than a more typical $600,000 as allocated in recent years.
The city could then pay residents a maximum of $500 annually for electricity and $200 for non-electricity assistance, according to a city report.
In all, that funding would cover about 900 households, according to the report. Households can quality by documenting that they are no more than 200% above the federal poverty level. Currently, a family of four making $33,000 or less is considered at 100% of the poverty level, according to federal Health and Human Services guidelines. Hypothetically, a family of four with an income up to $66,000 would be considered about 200% above the poverty line.
The Utility Assistance Program, which has been around for many years, began mainly with donations from utility customers who wished to help their neighbors. But in recent years, the city was able to expand the program with federal American Rescue Plan Act funding.
However, that ARPA funding, which was meant to help local governments during the COVID-19 pandemic, has since dried up.
City budget
The council on Monday night got its first look at an annual budget for fiscal year 2027. Public hearings will be held on Aug. 17 and Sept. 8 to allow community members to provide input on the items in the budget.
Following the public hearings, council members will make any final decisions and adjustments on Sept. 21 before the budget is formally adopted. Finance Director Matthew Lue explained to the council where the city revenue comes from, how the general fund and capital improvement funds work, trends in taxes and spending.
The proposed budget is balanced, Lue said. Revenues in the general fund and expenditures are both approximately $133.8 million.
The city staff is proposing that many departments cut back on spending plans and delay some hiring and equipment purchases to make the budget work.
Raising fees and rates
The council also discussed a variety of increases to fees for parks and recreation, public parking in city garages, water and electric rates and other services. Some fees were tabled for further discussion while others were passed.
Council discussed the increase of city garage prices to $1 per hour as well as a reduction in free parking time from one hour to 30 minutes. The $1 rate would match the prices of curbside parking meters in the city.
"We have the lowest hourly garage rate of any of these cities," Public Works Director Shane Creech said. "The more garages you have, the higher your maintenance needs over time."
The vote to increase garage parking rates was tabled until the Parking Advisory Commission had the chance to review the details. The motion to increase special event permit fees was approved 5-1.
The council also approved increases to electric and water utility rates as part of the fiscal year 2027 budget. A 6% electric rate increase passed on a 4-2 vote with members Valerie Carroll and Christina Hartman voting no while a 10% water rate increase passed unanimously. During public comment, Diana Coats, senior vice president of cultivation of Good Day Farms, said higher utility costs effect employment and operations.
"When we have a big increase in those costs, the money has to come from somewhere" Coats said.
Student housing
The council also approved a proposal for a planned redevelopment of University Place into Theory Sterling, a student housing complex.
The project would replace the existing apartment complex built in 1967 that contains 168 units, 351 beds and 168 parking spaces. The new project is a seven building development featuring 305 apartments with over 907 beds.
Developers described University Place as an "obsolete property" that was purchased in 2018 with the goal of redevelopment. The project is designed to meet increasing demand for student housing, citing two consecutive years of freshman enrollment growth at the University of Missouri and the resulting housing shortage. More than half of the proposed apartment units would be four bedroom units, and developers said the site's proximity to campus would encourage students to walk.
To accommodate the project, multiple design exceptions were allowed, including a build height of 85 feet and decreasing parking by 20% from a code requirement. Developers said the project would provide roughly 0.6 parking spots per 1 bed.
Multiple residents approached the council to address the fact that the intersection at College and University avenues has the highest volume of accidents in the city of Columbia. They noted that the team did not indicate designated loading and unloading zones, prompting concern that the number of accidents could increase as a result.
Other action
The council also was expected to consider the sale of almost $40 million in special obligation bonds to modernize the city’s electric and water metering systems. However, at 1:23 a.m. the council voted to recess until 9 a.m. Tuesday to take up the matter.
The retrofitted metering would allow for more accurate billing, outage detection and public access to utility data. The city projects increased revenue up to $71 million over a 15-year period with the implementation of the improvements.
The council also voted 6-0 in favor of reaffirming the goals of the Climate Action and Adaption Plan, giving staff more flexibility to change individual actions without needing to return to council every time. The city's overall emissions targets did not change. The goal is still to reduce carbon emissions by 35% by the year 2035.
Several members of the public approached council to argue the timeline and accountability measures are not enough. "The proposed update does not reflect the urgency of the climate crisis," Carolyn Amparan, chair of the Mid-Missouri Sierra Club Group, told the council.
The City Council also acknowledged 20 Columbia students who participated with the city in partnership with the Peace and Hope Youth Center in the annual Youth Civic Academy summer program. Two of the participants spoke on their experiences with the program before the group took photos with the mayor.
