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PTC Council eyes
11% budget hike proposal
By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@thecitizennews.com
Peachtree City's operating budget could increase by as much as 11.8 percent
if the City Council eventually adopts a proposal it will discuss at Thursday
night's meeting in a public hearing.
The proposed budget hike includes implementation of an employee pay plan
at over $493,000. Also included is the addition of three new firefighter
positions.
Those two factors are chiefly responsible for the drastic increase, City
Manager Jim Basinger told council in a memo regarding the budget.
Without the pay plan and the three new firefighters, the city's projected
budget increase would have been 6.51 percent, he noted.
Basinger is recommending that $1.05 million of the city's unrestricted
cash reserves be used to help balance the budget for this year. A projected
increase in property tax revenues, equalling over $398,000, will also
help fund the recommended increase, Basinger noted.
The city manager reported that he received assurances from senior staff
"to make every effort to hold down the increase in the 2002 operating
budget."
The proposed budget includes the addition of 12 full-time positions, six
of which are for firefighters.
"While these personnel-related increases are significant, I would
like to point out that the city continues to have the most favorable ration
of employees per 1,000 population of any municipality in the metro area,"
Basinger wrote.
He added that the city will need to make adjustments for the 2002 fiscal
year to preserve the city's future reserves.
"In conclusion, the city's primary fiscal challenge for Fiscal Year
2001 will be to fund the employee pay plan and additional fire department
employees, while still maintaining adequate cash reserves and holding
the millage rate constant," Basinger said in the memo to council.
The 2000-2001 budget proposal also includes over $613,000 in the council
contingency fund.
A copy of the proposed budget is available at the city's website, www.peachtree-city.org.
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