Wednesday, July 18, 2001
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Wednesday, July 18, 2001 |
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PTC City Manager: Raise taxes 24% Staff proposes
more facilities, bigger budgets; By JOHN MUNFORD
To cover a projected $1.15 million increase in Peachtree City's budget, the City Council is being asked to approve a 23.7 percent hike in property taxes for the 2002 fiscal year. The increase is recommended by city staff to avoid depleting cash reserves, City Manager Jim Basinger said in a memo to City Council. Basinger attributed the budget hike to increases in the operating budget and debt service. Peachtree City's tax rate hasn't been raised since 1984, said city public information officer Betsy Tyler. Council is slated to discuss the budget in a workshop meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday in the Floy Farr Room at the Peachtree City Library before the regular council meeting at 7 p.m. The operating budget reflects an increase of 6.73 percent from last year, according to city figures. The increased debt service includes plans to lease-purchase facilities such as a satellite auto maintenance shop, a smoke-and-burn training building for the Fire Department and renovations to City Hall, Tyler said. Also, the debt service increase is due to plans to lease-purchase equipment such as a new ladder truck for the Fire Department, she added. The proposed increase of .91 mills would mean a total of 4.75 mills paid by city residents. For homes valued at $200,000, it would increase the annual tax bill by $72.80, according to city projections. But those projections don't take into account the latest round of property reassessments. Councilman Steve Rapson said Monday that he does not support such a dramatic increase in the millage rate. He does, however, support increasing tax rates somewhat, he said, because council declined to do so last year despite adding 12 new employees and $754,000 in raises and benefits for employees. Instead, council used $1.4 million from the city's unreserved cash fund to "balance" the 2001 budget last year. To keep property taxes from rising, council also rolled back the millage rate to combat the rise in property valuations. Of those 12 new employees, seven were for the Fire Department, two for the Recreation Department and one each for the Police Department, the Public Works Department and the library. Rapson, the city's former finance director who now serves in a similar position for Fulton County, said he would study the proposed 2002 budget in detail to look for items that can be cut. "I can assure you they're not going to convince me to approve a 24 percent increase in the millage for this year's budget," Rapson said. Holding the millage rate at 3.84 for the 2002 budget would require approximately $1 million to balance the budget, according to Basinger's memo. Taking that from the unreserved cash fund would reduce it to "what staff considers an unacceptable level of approximately $1.2 million," Basinger said. According to calculations used by city staff, a mill will generate $1.2 million in revenue. A mill is one dollar per thousand of a home's assessed value. Assessed value is 40 percent of market value minus any exemptions. The proposed .91-mill increase is one of four options presented to council by city staff. The other options include raising the millage to a more conservative 4.06 or 4.28 and balancing the budget with funds from the cash reserve. The other option presented is to raise the millage rate to 4.95. An increase to 4.06 mills would require approximately $500,000 from the cash reserves to balance the budget, Tyler said. Raising the millage to 4.28 would require approximately $250,000 from the cash reserves to balance the budget, she added. Of the increases sought by various city departments, the largest is requested by the Police Department for an additional $238,558, representing a 7.6 percent increase from its allotment in the 2001 budget. The Fire Department is seeking an additional $198,641 over what it was budgeted for this year, an increase of 7.9 percent. Also, the Leisure Services Department is seeking $157,882, an increase of 5.1 percent. The Administrative Services Department is seeking an increase of $108,651, almost half of which is earmarked for court services. That represents a 11.5 percent increase from the current administrative services budget. Typically, council begins its budget workshops by meeting with department heads so the projected increases can be explained. But since tax hike is contemplated, that issue will be addressed first during the workshop, Basinger indicated in the memo to council members.
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