Beaufort paid planning consultants $600,000 over 2 years. Here’s its plan to cut costs
The city of Beaufort — which paid planning and architectural consultants more than $600,000 in fees over the past two years largely because of staff vacancies — is proposing to hire an in-house architect to reduce the steep outsourcing costs.
The architect hire, which would cost $117,000 annually, is one of the highlights of the $1.4 million Community Development Department budget proposed by Director Curt Freese for 2024.
The department, which has been short-staffed in recent years, reviews building and development plans, processing more than 1,000 projects and permit applications last year.
City Manager Scott Marshall’s $30.5 million overall budget for 2024 is being reviewed now by the City council. It’s slightly smaller than the 2023 budget, and proposes no tax increase, the result of property value increases.
But the budget proposes several key hires that city officials say will save money and improve operations — like the architect, three school resource police officers (two would be funded by the state) and a geographic information systems (GIS) manager.
“This is a pretty lean budget year,” Marshall said, “but we’re adding those positions in areas that will help with transparency and interface with the public.”
Freese’s budget is 6 percent of the $23.2 million general fund budget, which is the largest and main operating fund in the overall $30.5 million budget.
Besides the architect, Freese also is proposing to invest $75,020 in an online system where residents and developers can go for permitting and inspections. The system will allow residents not only to seek permits online but also check out what their neighbors are building, Freese says. Right now, permits are paper and processed by hand. The new system will allow for quicker turn-arounds for residents and assist the city in its internal organization and record-keeping as well, Freese said.
“It’s a modernization of services really,” Freese says.
Freese also wants to set aside $20,000 so the city can have an independent third party verify traffic counts that developers provide when they review the impacts of their projects. Developers, Freese noted, have a vested interest.
“It’s always a good idea, I think, to have someone verify that their baselines are correct,” Freese said.
The city’s costs for outside planning and architectural consultants markedly increased in recent years due to vacancies including the director’s position, which was open for 11 months after David Prichard resigned in February 2022.
“Essentially, for two years, there was almost no staff here,” said Freese.
In fiscal year 2021, the city paid Charleston-based Meadors Inc., which provides architectural services to the Historic District Review Board and Design Review Board, $131,765.
In fiscal year 2022, third-party review expenses increased by 146%, with the city paying Meadors and MRB Group, another Charleston-based group that provides day-to-day planning and consulting, $324,228.
The city has paid both firms $302,405 so far in fiscal year 2023 through January. The fiscal year begins July 1 and ends June 30.
Before Freese joined the city in January, Deputy City Manager Reece Bertholf said, the city was paying consultants $20,000 during some months.
The $117,000 cost of hiring an architect, which includes benefits, will save the city about $200,000 a year once the city weans itself off the use of consultants, Freese says.
Mayor Stephen Murray said he was “absolutely supportive” of hiring an architect and said time is of the essence. Having an architect on staff, he said, will allow them to become an expert on the Beaufort Code, which he says will result in a better product.
“We’ve been pushing this can down the road for a number of years,” Councilman Mike McFee added.
Meanwhile, Freese recently hired a planner with experience in working with historic preservation properties. One position remains vacant.
This story was originally published May 17, 2023 at 12:08 PM.
