harold you might as well raise our taxes more than 20 bucks per home.
You already have broke every promise you made. Everyone hates you. You have proven that you couldn't balance a personal checkbook if we hired a CPA to do it for you. I certainly hope our city isn't paying for a "short bus" to carry you to work everyday.

The city manager only approved the money for one cop and no firefighters at all. When are we going to be rid of this skidrow drunk bum?? When is this city going to have the safety and EMS personel to reach even basic national standards again?

riverdale is jealous of how quickly we have fallen into the abyss.

Bravo! Instead of bringing riverdale to us why don't you 2 drunks do us all a big favor and move to the ghetto if you like it sooooo much.

Now let me see what you said: The city of PTC first asked for many, many more police and firemen (most at mid grade pay) but then decided to "cut" the budget by not hiring them since they haven't even hired the authorized amount from last year!
Is that correct?
All these cuts amounted to an increase? Plus the use of $500,000 dollars of reserves (from where) and the collection of more taxes from property re-evaluations.
Is that correct?
Yet, all that would not cover the costs of personnel increases.
Is that correct?
Why can't we just say what it was over the last few years, each, and what it will be next year? What is this "reserve" business, a budgeted item? Try to clear it up a bit, they sure won't.

Yes, the mayor may have run on a platform of "No New Taxes" but we see where that has gotten us so far. A .25 mill increase with a grand total cost of $20.00 for a $200,000.00 home is not that noticeable. In my opinion $20.00 means not renting a couple of movies, video games, or getting that manicure. It, however, doesn't mean that it should be approached as a lynching offense which some citizens will take it as. A full .50 mill increase would actually do a lot to bring the budget back to where it should be. Then again this is my own humble opinion.

The problem that we're currently facing is that the surrounding cities have the same cost of living, if not less, and we're not keeping up with our methods of paying for the luxuries we've come to expect. We want the cake without getting our apron dirty to make it.

As for dipping into the coffers to cover the necessities: It's a sign that some things should be assessed...and then reassessed. 39% of the budget is for Public Safety. Well, in light of two shootings last year, how many cars broken into, stolen golf carts, burglaries, thefts, and armed robberies what should we focus on? More air conditioned restrooms? That is what seems to be important here? Perhaps we should try to make an indoor ice hockey rink at Kedron Field House. Another set of ball fields? Let's build another golf cart bridge that goes unused for close to a year. It appears that there's more interest in the luxuries than the necessities.

The losses of people at the police department are abominable. How short staffed are they now? Revenues are down and crime is up. The recreation department doesn't seem to have those problems.

We should take a look around and see how other municipalities in the metro-Atlanta area are doing. I'm sure we'll find that they're a little higher up there than we are. We're seeing an influx of criminal activity that's a direct correlation to our current vulnerability because we're more focused on those things we want more than those things that we need.

If one were to refer to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs they would find that safety and security are lower on the rungs of that ladder than petty pleasures. 39% is still a fraction more than what is spent on Recreation and Culture if you are to split the 39% down the middle between Police and Fire/EMS.

As for a new building supervisor: How many buildings is this one person responsible for? How many people going in and out of every day? I think apartment complexes have more people on staff for less important things. And if someone is considering outsourcing it then they should reconsider this. Some of these buildings house classified documents, personnel files, accounting documents, cash money, millions of dollars of equipment, drugs, and weapons. I don't think this should be considered lightly and hastily.

Let's examine this:
$20.00 per year more on a house valued at $200,000.00
or
$0.00 for no increase and get deeper into the pit we've already dug ourselves over the past few years.

We need to step up to the plate and realize that this is the moment when we can say "Wow, it wasn't that bad. I'm glad we did it" or to look back a few years from now and try to figure out how to get ourselves out of a situation that's reprehensible. We've already cut the cost of living increases from the city employees and they're leaving like rats from a sinking ship (i.e. the police department). How many more people will begin to be courted for higher paying positions, or ones with more stable pay and benefits, elsewhere when the city refuses to pay them and wants to raise their medical costs?

How many of you out there reading this right now would be completely opposed to paying $20.00 instead of paying for a better quality of living?