Cayce City Council made its first step towards finalizing the city’s next budget in a special called meeting on Tuesday, May 26.

The budget will need to pass a second reading to go into effect. The fiscal year starts on July 1.

The council also approved the distribution of funds from accommodations and hospitality taxes during that meeting. The budget and tax distributions were on the council’s agenda on May 20, but both matters were deferred to the next week. The materials set to be voted on were not provided to city council members or the public prior to the meeting. The council then voted unanimously to table discussion and voting on the actions until May 26.

The proposed budget would increase the millage rate by 4.97 points for a total of 67.07. That means a homeowner with a $200,000 property would pay $40 more per year in property taxes.

Water and sewer rates would increase by 7% for customers both inside and outside of the city, according to the proposal. City staff are also asking for increased fees for building inspections and zoning reviews.

The budget proposal would provide city employees with a 4% cost-of-living adjustment, designed to counter the effects of inflation. Prices rose by 3.8% from April 2025 to April 2026, according to the Consumer Price Index.

The Cayce Police Department is looking to replace old vehicles and improve officer retention with its budget requests, Assistant Chief Jonathan von Moltke said at a May 20 work session. The West Columbia Police Department, the airport’s force and the highway patrol all start new, uncertified officers at higher salaries than in Cayce, according to von Moltke.

“They see they can go somewhere else right next door, and they can make an extra $5,000 to $10,000,” von Moltke said.

Cayce’s police force has struggled with staffing, but it is closing the gap according to the assistant chief. The department had 14 vacancies last year, von Moltke said. Its website shows three openings as of May 27.

With 29 vehicles at eight or more years of age, the police department is looking to begin phasing older vehicles out over time. Eleven new vehicles were requested this year.

Improving record and evidence storage is another goal for the police. The storage unit at the primary police building is made from old jail cells. The ventilation is not adequate for storing drugs, guns and other pieces of evidence, von Moltke said.

The department uses a building near Cayce’s water treatment center to store larger pieces of evidence and long-term records. Some records have already been damaged due to the poor conditions there, according to von Moltke.

“That building is rapidly dilapidating over time,” von Moltke said. “There’s holes in it. The floors are starting to wear and give out. The roof leaks.”

The distribution of hospitality and accommodations tax funding to applicants was passed as recommended by the respective committees with one exception. The Woman’s Club of Cayce was awarded its requested amount of $6,700 for the group’s Hot Flash 5K event, when the committee only recommended $4,000.

Pamme Eades of the Woman’s Club spoke about the recommended reduction to their funding during the public comment portion of the meeting. Many of the smaller requests for funding were reduced by the committee recommendation, while larger requests were kept the same, Eades said.

The Cayce Fire Department will get around $20,000 of hospitality tax funds for water rescue training. The department previously worked with Dominion Energy and the SC Department of Natural Resources to train in the Congaree River, according to its application. But recent constraints to the partnering organizations have made the fire department need to seek training in other areas, the application continued.

Accommodations tax is taken from the proceeds from renting hotel rooms, campgrounds and other lodgings. Hospitality tax comes from the sale of food and beverages. Nonprofits can apply to use money from these taxes for events that promote tourism or travel to Cayce.