The first draft of the 2007-2008 budget for Peachtree City includes a quarter-mill tax increase and a dip of nearly $550,000 into the city’s cash reserves.

If approved by council, the tax increase would be the second in as many years. Mayor Harold Logsdon was elected in 2005 on a platform that promised fiscal austerity, as was Councilman Steve Boone.

After getting the most votes in 2005, Logsdon promised to provide “leadership, quality of life and financial accountability,” and said he was looking forward to the opportunity to look out for taxpayer dollars.

As mayoral candidate in August 2005, Logsdon complained to the then-City Council that local taxes exceeded an annual cost of living adjustment of around 3 percent and said, “It just seems wrong for local governments to take more than that away from us.”

“The tax base must be examined to see if funds can be used in other places, without a tax increase,” a Citizen story reported that Boone said at a senior citizens forum before his election victory in 2005.

Within nine months of that election, the Peachtree City Council approved its first outright tax increase in several years.

The proposed .25 mill increase for 2007 amounts to a $20 hike on the property tax bill for a home with a valuation of $200,000. The city would also reap the benefit of any property tax increases based on the increased value of homes from property reassessments, which varies from parcel to parcel, and will add an estimated $196,000 to the budget.

This year’s general fund budget is increasing 8.8 percent from last year’s approved budget. Most all the increase is tied to new employees for the city, according to City Finance Director Paul Salvatore.

Among the recommended new hires are three full-time employees and converting a current part-time employee to a full-time role. Salvatore said he and City Manager Bernie McMullen cut the number of new hires from the initial number of 26, at a savings of $1.4 million.

Among the new proposed full-time employees are a new accounting manager, a new police officer and a new building systems supervisor.

The accounting manager is necessary because of extensive requirements new this year for the city’s accounting system, including new rules for financial controls and other requirements of the Sarbanes Oxley Act, Salvatore said.

The police officer is being recommended for patrolling of the city’s cart path system, and the building systems supervisor is necessary because currently only one staffer is dedicated to maintenance issues for the city’s buildings, Salvatore said.

The part-time role proposed for a full-time position is that of the assistant city planner, which was also deemed important, Salvatore indicated.

Also this year the city will have to pay a full year’s worth of salary to three new firefighters that were added in the middle of the budget year with funds left over from a grant that didn’t come through, Salvatore said.

Salvatore is also recommending that two part-time employees be added for the Teen Activities at Glenloch program, though their combined salary of $15,000 would be offset by revenues from the program.

Although the city is expected to have a surplus at the end of the year of more than $500,000, that’s not necessarily good because a large chunk of that figure represents vacancies in the police department that are affecting patrol issues. Also, that has led to a decrease in revenue from court fines, Salvatore said.

Salvatore and McMullen are also recommending to transfer a systems specialist from the library to the city’s main information technology department, with that employee focusing on the needs of public safety, handling issues with new technology for the police and fire departments such as the recent addition of mobile data terminals in police vehicles and the like, Salvatore said.

The first draft of the budget is typically the version initially proposed by the city manager and is subject to changes from council before it is officially adopted.

Last year, the quarter-mill tax increase was attributed to the hiring of three new police officers and three new firefighters.

Overall as currently projected, property taxes make up 27 percent of the city’s anticipated revenue for the year, followed by sales taxes at 19.9 percent, “other” taxes at 18.1 percent and the special purpose local option sales tax for transportation projects at 6.2 percent. Also included are 7.3 percent in revenues from a budget carryover and 6.7 percent for charges for services.

Nearly 39 percent of the city’s proposed general fund budget is devoted to police, fire and EMS expenses. The city is also expected to spend 17.4 percent on culture and recreation and 14.1 percent on its public works department.