Friday, August 16, 2002

Fairburn's property tax rate could double

By JOHN THOMPSON
jthompson@TheCitizenNews.com

Fairburn taxpayers could see their taxes nearly doubled this year, unless the city decides to cut some services or find another revenue source.

The bleak assessment was presented Monday night by City Administrator Jim Williams at the City Council's workshop meeting.

Williams said last year's $11.6 million budget was only balanced because the city took nearly $1.2 million from its reserve fund.

"You really should not do that two years in a row," he cautioned.

In evaluating this year's budget, Williams' initial draft proposal is for a $12.3 million budget, which would offer the same level of services as last year's. But in crunching the number, he discovered the city would fall about $356,000 short in funds to pay for the programs.

In order to pay for the budget, Williams said the only alternatives were to cut services, cut the budget, use reserve funds or increase taxes.

"This budget just keeps it going like last year. There's not a whole lot to cut," he said.

Instead, Williams said the City Council could raise the funds by raising the millage rate from just over four mills to 7.5 mills, which would cost homeowners of a $100,000 home about $30 more dollars.

"I wanted to alert you about this problem," Williams said.

City Councilman Harvey Melear also asked Williams to investigate the services, such as electricity, the city is providing to the residents. Melear said it might be time to possibly increase the fees on those services to help pay for the budget deficit.

During the next two weeks, Williams will be doing a more detailed evaluation of the budget and bringing more precise figures to the City Council.