A-CC Commissioners get Mayor's budget proposal

Athens Mayor Kelly Girtz rolls out the budget that will get an Athens-Clarke County Commission vote before next month’s end of the fiscal year. The County millage rate would remain unchanged in a budget that would include $1 million for an affordable housing fund.

Athens-Clarke County Commissioners hold a budget work session, meeting with County department heads in a 5 o’clock session at Athens City Hall.

From the Athens-Clarke Co government website… The Fiscal Year 2025 Mayor’s Recommended Budget for July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025 for the Athens-Clarke County Unified Government has been submitted to the Commission for review. This budget is balanced and includes a General Fund Operating and Capital Budget that totals $193.6 million for FY25, which is 3.7% higher than the FY24 level.

The budget year begins on July 1. In advance of the beginning of the fiscal year, departments and constitutional officials submit operating and capital budget requests for review by the Manager and the Mayor. The Mayor submits a recommended budget to the Commission for review by April 30 each year. The Commission reviews the Mayor’s Recommended Budget and can make any adjustments necessary prior to adopting the budget in June.

The FY25 Mayor’s Recommended Budget proposes a millage rate of 12.45 for property tax year 2024 - no change from the current rate. Each mill of this rate produces $1 of taxes for every $1,000 of assessed property value as determined by the Tax Assessor’s Office.

Additional specific information on the budget, including the full FY25 Mayor’s Recommended Budget, is available at www.accgov.com/budget. A budget summary section is also available as part of the overall budget document. The goals, strategies, and initiatives in the Mayor and Commission’s current Strategic Plan for FY23 – FY25 will also help to guide budget priorities.

Some of the major items included in the Mayor’s Recommended Budget are:

• Employee compensation is targeted for a 4% market increase for each employee in the Unified Plan (non-public safety), totaling $1.3M in the General Fund. The structured Public Safety Step Plan is funded with a 4% pay table increase ($1.6M) and an additional $711,000 to fund pay increases for scheduled step increases. In addition, $1.2M has also been added for increased Public Safety overtime needs.
• For the second year in a row, ACCGov will hold constant employee contributions to the health insurance program. ACCGov’s contribution to annual funding for employee benefits includes General Fund increases of approximately $554,000 for Health Insurance, $50,000 for Retiree Health and $1.6M for Pension funding.
• Central Services – Facilities Rehab Crew: $241,000 for one additional Facilities Maintenance Supervisor, part-time hours, and equipment and supplies. This initiative will incorporate three correctional diversion participants trained for painting and general maintenance in ACCGov buildings, which will reduce capital needs and costs in the future.
• Information Technology - $198,000 of additional funding has been included to cover the increased costs of software licensing and maintenance agreements.
• Transportation & Public Works – $100,000 has been added to cover the increased costs of streetlight electricity.
• Transportation & Public Works – $59,000 is included for an additional Traffic Engineering Tech Position needed to deal with the high demand for traffic studies, speed studies, pedestrian counts, etc.
• Grants & Community Impact Coordinator – Sustainability Office: $79,000 (9 months) to pursue and manage grants and funding opportunities in pursuit of M&C sustainability goals, including the 2035 (ACCGov) / 2050 (Community) 100% Clean and Renewable Energy Commitments.
• Federal Affairs Consultant - $75,000 in the Manager’s Office for professional services in support of ACCGov in seeking federal funding and support.
• Tax Assessor – An additional Appraiser position ($72,000) has been added as recommended by the recent audit by Operational Analysis.
• Animal Services – An additional $67,000 is recommended for increased maintenance needs and medical services and supplies.
• Police – Alternative Response Team: $500,000 has been added to the General Fund budget to continue the program that began with local ARPA grant funds.
• Police – Youth Cadet Corps: $90,000 to expand the program and add 10 cadets (for a total of 20).
• Fire & Emergency Services – Firefighters/EMTs for Ladder Trucks: $162,000 adds three fulltime positions to increase staffing on ladder trucks to national standards. This is the second year of a three-year phase-in to add a total of nine positions to support ACCGov’s three ladder trucks.
• Fire & Emergency Services – Emergency Management Coordinator: $92,000 for a position to assist in the oversight, planning, organization, and administration of the ACCGov Emergency Management Program.
• Sheriff – An additional $153,000 in the Sheriff’s Jail budget for medical services for in-custody residents to account for the annual cost increases in the current contract.
• Digital Evidence Management System: $82,000 (split between District Attorney - $55,000 and Solicitor - $27,000) - to streamline and integrate databases for criminal cases used by the police, prosecutors, and the defense.
• Outside of the General Fund, the Recommended Budget designates $1.0M in the Affordable Housing Special Revenue Fund as a “strike fund” project to purchase properties for permanent affordability pursuing forthcoming Land Bank Authority recommendations from the Government Operations Committee.

As the Tax Assessor’s Office updates the estimated market value of taxable property - called the tax digest - Georgia law requires local governments to calculate a “rollback” millage rate. The FY25 rollback millage rate is calculated as the millage rate needed to produce the same total revenue on the 2024 tax digest that the FY24 millage rate would have produced had no reassessments or inflationary increases occurred to property such as land, buildings, and improvements.

The recommended 12.45 millage rate for 2024 would increase estimated property tax revenues by 7.13% over the rollback millage rate. This increase in revenue over the rollback millage rate is due to inflationary growth or reassessment growth in the market value of existing real property.

This does not mean all property owners will see a 7.13% increase in their property taxes. Individual taxes are based on the current assessed value of real property that may remain the same, increase, or decrease depending on the market value of each parcel of property.

Without this tentative property tax revenue increase, the FY25 millage rate would be no more than 11.621 mills. The proposed tax increase for a home with a fair market value of $350,000 is approximately $95.33 and the proposed tax increase for non-homestead property with a fair market value of $450,000 is approximately $149.22.

The Athens-Clarke County Commission is scheduled to adopt the FY25 Budget at their Regular Voting Meeting on Tuesday, June 4, 2024 at 6:00 PM.

Before the Athens-Clarke County Mayor and Commission finalizes the FY25 Budget and sets the 2024 millage rate, Georgia law requires three public hearings to allow the public an opportunity to express their opinions on the increase. In addition to these three required public hearings, the Athens-Clarke County Commission is scheduled to review the FY25 Mayor’s Recommended Budget at a series of meetings.

The upcoming budget-related meetings will take place:

• Thursday, May 2 – 5:00 PM – Mayor & Commission budget review for quasi-government agencies at 301 College Avenue, City Hall Commission Chamber (no public comment)
• Thursday, May 9 – 5:30 PM – Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights Public Hearing #1 (public may comment) followed by Mayor and Commission budget review at 120 Dougherty Street, Government Building Auditorium.
• Tuesday, May 14 – 5:30 PM – Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights Public Hearing #2 and FY25 Budget public hearing (public may comment) at 301 College Avenue, City Hall Commission Chamber followed by the Mayor and Commission budget review.
• Thursday, May 16 – 5:30 PM – Mayor & Commission budget review at 120 Dougherty Street, Government Building Auditorium (no public comment).
• Tuesday, May 21 – 6:00 PM – Mayor & Commission agenda setting meeting at 301 College Avenue, City Hall Commission Chamber (FY25 Budget on the agenda for discussion).
• Thursday, May 23 (if needed) – 5:30 PM – Mayor & Commission budget review at 120 Dougherty Street, Government Building Auditorium (no public comment).
• Tuesday, June 4 – 6:00 PM – Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights Public Hearing #3 (public may comment) followed by the Mayor & Commission Regular Voting Meeting at 301 College Avenue, City Hall Commission Chamber to adopt the FY25 Budget and 2024 millage rate.

Budget review meetings and Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights Public Hearings will be streamed live online and available for on-demand viewing at www.accgov.com/videos and on the ACCGov YouTube channel. Meetings held at City Hall will also be broadcast live and rebroadcast on ACTV Cable Channel 180 and the ACCGov Facebook page. All meetings will also be available on-demand afterwards on the ACCGov Roku channel.

The FY25 Mayor’s Recommended Budget can be reviewed at www.accgov.com/budget. More information is available on each meeting agenda at www.accgov.com/agendas or by calling the Clerk of Commission at 706-613-3031.

A copy of the FY25 Mayor’s Recommended Budget will also available for public inspection during normal business hours at the Athens-Clarke County Library at 2025 Baxter Street. Copies will also be available in the Clerk of Commission’s Office in City Hall, 301 College Avenue, in Suite 204 and the Manager’s Office in City Hall, 301 College Avenue, in Suite 303.

FY25 Mayor’s Recommended Budget

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