Budget hike near $1 million

Proposed increases include retirement, gas, attorney expenses

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

Peachtree City's proposed 2002 operating budget represents a $905,000 hike from this year's budget.

Of course, that number is subject to change after council asked staff last week to find cuts in the budget.

The largest cumulative increase is more than $167,000 earmarked for increases in the employee retirement plan for various departments.

Only two new full-time positions are included in the proposed budget: an Emergency Medical Services lieutenant for the Fire and Rescue Department and a mechanic for the Public Works Department. Two part-time positions at the Kedron Fieldhouse, for a fieldhouse leader and a building technician, are also included.

The operating budget also has a $66,400 hike in the salary for the city attorney/solicitor position.

The budget also contains funds to cover price increases for gasoline and diesel fuel, which amounts to an additional $73,000 in various departmental budgets.

The gas increase budgeted for the Police Department alone is $47,800, accounting for a significant chunk of the department's $194,447 line item budget increase. The largest expense attributed to the Police Department is $72,932 for the retirement plan. Another increase is in the hourly rate for part-time salaries, totalling $16,651.

The retirement plan also created an almost $70,000 increase in the budget for fire and EMS services. The fire budget also includes $59,847 to reclassify three positions. Gas increases added another $11,000 to the fire and EMS budgets also.

Gas increases also hiked the public works budget by more than $10,000.

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