Washington’s new city budget takes effect today, ushering in some new expenditures and continuing at least one program that had been slated for discontinuance.

Among the new budget items is a “beautification” person for downtown. The new city employee will responsible for keeping the downtown area clean and aesthetically pleasing. The budget allocates $31,436 in salary and benefits for that position.

The idea of the “downtown employee” was mentioned and discussed during the council’s planning retreat in April, during which council members, city staff and department heads talked about enhancing the city’s tourism efforts — especially marketing the city as a multi-day destination instead of a day-trip locale. The discussion ranged from making the city’s downtown cleaner and more visually appealing to a fueling station for boats at the waterfront to developing a plan to draw more visitors to the city and implementing that plan as an economic-development tool.

The new employee takes care of the area from Second Street south to the north side of Stewart Parkway between Gladden and Bonner streets.

The new spending plan includes $20,000 for the façade-improvement program, which had been targeted for elimination in City Manager Bobby Roberson’s initial recommended budget. Mayor Pro Tempore Virginia Finnerty opposed that proposed elimination. During the budget process, Finnerty lobbied for adding $20,000 to the budget to fund the city’s façade-grant program. The council restored that funding.

Roberson plans to retool the program so it becomes more proactive and better distributes grants so the same recipients do not receive grants regularly. He wants more property owners and business owners to participate in the program.

The program improves exteriors of buildings in downtown Washington. It provides funds to help replace awnings, replace windows, repoint bricks and make other aesthetic upgrades. At one time, the program paid for roof repairs and landscaping. Property owners/business owners apply for grants. Applications are reviewed, and grant recipients selected. Grant recipients are required to contribute money toward their projects. Under current guidelines, the city pays pay up to $2,000 for a project.

The budget implements a half-percent increase in water rates and a 2-percent increase in sewer rates for the upcoming fiscal year. The increases are needed to provide for the operation and maintenance of those services, according to Roberson. Under the budget, electric rates do not increase during the fiscal year.

The budget increases stormwater fees for commercial customers by 15 percent. The council looked at increasing the residential fee to $1 a month, but reached consensus to raise the monthly fee to 50 cents. That would result in a residential customer pay $6 more a year.