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May 14, 2008

Council takes look at proposed 2009 budget

Daniel McDonald

City Council got its first glimpse at the Fiscal Year 2009 when City Manager Scott Wood presented his budget proposal Tuesday.

Wood started his presentation by citing the budgetary difficulties facing Atlanta to highlight the difficulties challenging municipal governments in the these uncertain financial times.

Wood read from an Atlanta Journal-Constitution article that said the state capital is in the process of laying off 441 city workers to balance the city budget at a time when the city is collecting property taxes at their highest levels since 2002.

“I think that article is somewhat representative of the plight that many, if not most, local governments across the state and across the nation are facing,” he said.

During the presentation, Wood gave an overview of all seven primary city departments including Finance, Human Resources, Police, Fire, Public Works, the Planning and Zoning Department and Public Utilities and their responsibilities.

Wood identified the rising cost of energy resources as the main challenge facing the city in the coming fiscal year. The city budget is expected to rise 3.03 percent from about $10.3 million to about $10.6 million to meet the rising costs of electricity, natural gas and gasoline-diesel fuels, he said.

Although Wood does not anticipate a tax increase, the current millage of 9.22 percent could be subject to change once the city tax digest is completed this fall. Baldwin County Chief Tax Appraiser Phyllis Lavender said the tax digest is due to the state Aug. 1.

Between 2004 and 2006, the tax digest grew at about an average of $150,000 each year, as the number of parcels increased by about 150 per year, but officials in the city’s finance department said it was too soon to know if there would be a similar increase in the digest this year.

In the proposed budget, Wood highlighted several atypical requested allocations including funding for a state historical preservation conference to be held in Milledgeville this fall, funding to hire a Community Development Block Grant consultant to help in the city’s efforts to acquire grants from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs and money to fund a redesign of the city’s seal.

The proposed budget also includes increased money for the city’s under-funded pension program, a 2 percent cost-of-living wage increase for city employees and merit-based wage increases.

Of the $300,000 increase in the general operating fund, 66 percent or two-thirds will be consumed by increases in utilities, gasoline and the penchant fund, Wood said.

In other council news, Mayor Richard Bentley appointed an Ad Hoc committee called the Comprehensive Plan Implementation Committee to see that the implementation of the joint city-county comprehensive plan is addressed in a timely fashion. Bentley appointed Peter Boylan, Dale Epps, Dorthy Leland, Frank Chambers, Steve Chambers, Edward Shelor, Bubba Williams, Omer Reid, George Hogan, Tony Fraley, Harrold Simmons, Rod Theus, Ken Morgan and Mark Archer to the committee.

Finally, City Council unanimously approved an alcohol license for the Kai Thai Restaurant located at 2600 N. Columbia St.

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