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Fayetteville budget likely to rise

Health insurance increase, indigent defense law cited as factors

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

Fayetteville’s proposed $30.04 million budget for the upcoming fiscal year may increase a little more due to several factors, the City Council was warned Thursday night.

City finance director Lynn Robinson noted that a 15 percent increase will be necessary for the city’s employee health insurance program, and there were additional requests for increased compensation from the city’s municipal judge and solicitor. There is also the matter of developing an indigent defense program as mandated by the state and a cost increase on the Redwine Road multiuse path project.

While the insurance increase was tabbed at $109,000 from last year’s budget and the Redwine multi-use path will increase an estimated $75,000 over budget, Robinson said the affects of the other issues are not yet known.

Robinson said she would have more concrete details at the next City Council meeting, scheduled for July 15.

Council members will receive copies of the letters from municipal court judge Michael Martin and solicitor Warren Sellers requesting pay increases, Robinson said. Those requests came in well after the city’s proposed budget was finalized for the 2004-2005 fiscal year, Robinson noted.

The hike on the Redwine multiuse path project was due to the original project estimates being several years old, Robinson said. The lowest bidder for the project came in over the original budget, she noted.

“It looks like these are additional items that will impact the budget,” Robinson said.

Robinson is proposing that the city hold its millage rate at 3.033 mills, which would break the city’s streak of lowering the millage rate annually since 1994. The city’s property tax collections have been on the decline, she noted.

She credited the city’s department heads for working to pare down their budgets.

“They really had to tighten their belt buckles and they came to the table and made it work,” Robinson said.

The $30.04 million budget includes all city expenditures, including $8.85 million for general fund expenditures, $11.75 million for water and sewer expenditures and $6.51 million for capital projects in addition to other separate smaller funds operated by the city.

The budget includes no additional personnel but several significant capital expenditures for the city’s new police department and municipal court building and improvements to the city’s water and sewer system.

The city’s capital projects fund, totaling $6.5 million, includes $3.2 million for the police station and municipal court building which will be financed, increasing the city’s annual debt service. The capital projects fund also includes $1.63 million for pedestrian improvements on Lanier Avenue,Êbut $1.3 million of that will be paid for with grant proceeds from the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Livable Centers Initiative program.