After some parliamentary wrangling and a last-minute change to the millage rate, Athens-Clarke County commissioners passed the county’s budget late Tuesday night.
During their meeting commissioners were presented with two similar, but not identical, options. One proposal, authored by Commissioners Mike Hamby, Dexter Fisher, and John Culpepper would reduce the county’s millage rate by .75 mills. A competing proposal sponsored by Commissioners Jesse Houle and Carol Myers sought a more modest .3 mill reduction. The Hamby/Fisher/Culpepper proposal would reduce county revenue by about $4.9 million while the Houle/Myers budget would reduce it by about $2 million.
Fisher framed the larger property tax cut as a helping hand to taxpayers who may not have had their voices heard.
Their [property values] have shot up and so have their property taxes," Fisher said. "They might not be here speaking, but I heard them loud and clear."
But, Houle argued, if lean economic times are ahead, it would be more prudent to reduce taxes by a lower amount rather than risk having to raise taxes if the booming economy slows down.
"In my view, I don't want to trade a short term gesture to our constituents for long term fiscal sustainability for the whole community," they said.
Houle also noted that the difference between their plan and Hamby’s amounted to about $40 a year for the average homeowner.
Culpepper, who supported the larger tax cut, said that the move would be a way to counter inflation.
"We're dealing with record high inflation and any kind of help we can get to help that will be better for our constituents," Culpepper said.
The first vote, on the Houle/Myers proposal, failed 5-4, with District 9’s Ovita Thornton abstaining.
Thornton’s abstention prompted a check of the rules to see if abstaining was allowable, as well as caustic comments from Mayor Kelly Girtz and Houle.
Thornton’s abstention was ruled to be in order, and a vote was held on the Hamby/Fisher/Culpepper budget. That vote also failed, 4-6.
With commissioners deadlocked, Hamby offered a compromise measure that would reduce the millage rate by .65 mills instead of his original .75, with the additional revenue going to beef up the county’s reserve funds. That budget passed, 6-4.
