Athens Mayor Kelly Girtz has submitted his recommended budget to the Commission for review, which will govern the Athens-Clarke County Unified Government from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020 if approved.
This balanced budget includes a General Fund Operating and Capital Budget of $136.2 million for the 2020 fiscal year, a 1.4 percent increase of the FY19 budget.
Girtz proposed a millage rate of 13.95 for property tax, the same as the previous fiscal year. 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.
That said, due to a general increase in property values, the maintained 13.95 rate would bring in an estimated 7.2 percent increase in property taxes. Since individual taxes are based on the current assessed value of a property, this does not mean all property owners will see a 7.2 percent increase on their property taxes.
The full budget proposal can be found online at accgov.com. Major items in the budget also include:
"Funding for the resumption of the Performance Management Program (PMP) to attract, retain, and reward talented employees. Across all funds, the PMP funding is approximately $1.8 million ($1.3 million in the General Fund), which is equivalent to 2% of pay and related benefits."
- "Funding for retiree health Insurance and life insurance (Other Post-Employment Benefits – OPEB) increases to almost $6 million per year, a $1.3 million increase ($1.0 from the General Fund) over the FY19 Budget in order to maintain current benefits."
- "Across all funds, the recommended budget will add nine new full-time positions and convert several existing part-time positions to seven full-time positions, increasing the total number of authorized positions to 1,689. At this level, the Unified Government’s ratio of full-time positions to community population remains below 14 per 1,000 citizens."
Before the budget is finalized, Georgia law requires three public hearings so the public can provide feedback on changes like the millage rate. The ACC Commission is scheduled to hold a series of meetings on the budget.
- Monday, May 6 at 5:30 p.m. in the 120 West Dougherty Street Governmental Building Auditorium (Mayor & Commission budget review - no public comment)
- Wednesday, May 8 at 5:30 p.m. in the 120 West Dougherty Street Governmental Building Auditorium (Taxpayer's Bill of Rights public hearing #1 at 5:30 p.m. followed by Mayor & Commission budget review)
- Monday, May 13 at 5:30 p.m. in the 120 West Dougherty Street Governmental Building Auditorium (Mayor & Commission budget review, if needed - no public comment)
- Tuesday, May 21 at 6:00 p.m. in the City Hall Commission Chamber at 301 College Avenue(Taxpayer's Bill of Rights #2 and FY20 Budget public hearings followed by the Mayor & Commission Agenda Setting Session)
- Tuesday, June 4 at 6:00 p.m. in the City Hall Commission Chamber at 301 College Avenue(Taxpayer's Bill of Rights public hearing #3 followed by the Mayor & Commission Regular Voting Meeting to adopt FY20 Budget and 2019 millage rate)
The Commission is set to adopt the 2020 fiscal year budget on June 4.