Richmond City Council passed a $772.8 million general fund budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year Monday night that in large part aims to increase the attraction of working for City Hall.

Seeking to deal with high vacancy and turnover rates, the new budget will pump more money into payroll. That includes providing a 3.25 percent pay increase for most employees effective with the Oct. 9 pay period and granting even larger raises to nearly 900 employees who would have opportunities for higher pay at private companies and other public agencies.

However, pay proposals for police officers and firefighters fell flat. They will get the 3.25 percent pay hike but are increasingly falling behind the pay of their peers in neighboring counties where pay has jumped dramatically.

In the new budget that goes into effect July 1, the council offered a pay study and promises of potential changes in the city’s pay scale for public safety officers at a time when personnel shortfalls have required the police and fire departments to require mandatory overtime to ensure coverage.

At a public hearing before the vote, City Council heard from several people about the toll mandatory overtime is having on sworn officers and their families, disrupting relationships and child care.

Former Councilman William J. Pantele, now a lobbyist for the Richmond Coalition of Police, noted that the $43,000 starting pay for Richmond’s public safety officers is at the bottom among departments in Central Virginia.

Other speakers reminded the council that a new patrol officer in Richmond would have to spend nine years to reach the current $51,000 annual starting pay in Henrico County and that both Henrico and Chesterfield are having success attracting experienced city officers who can get raises of $5,000 to $12,000 when they transfer.

Mr. Pantele pointed out that the Richmond Police Department is now at least 70 patrol officers short, with precincts often at half strength. Other speakers told the council that the Richmond Fire Department is short at least 30 firefighters or enough people to staff two stations. “We’re in a crisis,” Mr. Pantele said.

Speakers also praised 3rd District Councilwoman Ann-Frances Lambert for successfully pushing an amendment that will provide an additional $500,000 to beef up recreational services in Gilpin Court after years of underfunding.

Separately, the council also passed a resolution to set initial spending priorities for the flood of federal dollars expected from the American Rescue Plan and a pending federal infrastructure bill. The ARP alone is expected to provide up to $158 million in new funds.

The council priorities include pumping $7.1 million into the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund to push the total to $10 million in the new budget year and putting an additional $1.5 million into the city’s eviction diversion and homeless programs.

The proposal also would push nearly $20 million into improving parks and recreation infrastructure, including providing $15 million to speed up redevelopment of the South Side Community Center and Regional Park. The plan also calls for investing $4.7 million for new streets, alleys and other infrastructure in Creighton Court’s public housing that is set to be demolished and replaced with new housing.