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PTC eyes .25 mill tax hike to fund $34.8M budgetTue, 07/18/2006 - 3:34pm
By: John Munford
Peachtree City residents hoping to avoid a property tax increase this year will be disappointed with the latest version of the city’s 2006-07 budget, which will be discussed at Thursday night’s City Council meeting. But residents may feel at least a little more safe, as the $34.83 million budget includes three new police officers and three new fire lieutenants. The millage rate, used to calculate property taxes, would increase by .25 mills, which works out to a $20 tax increase for a home valued at $200,000. That increase does not factor in the annual property assessment increase on local homes, which varies on a case-by-case basis and also will increase the amount city residents pay for property taxes. City staff is not proposing any changes to the budget for Thursday’s meeting, but there are several outstanding issues that need to be resolved by council, noted City Finance Director Paul Salvatore. The public will also get to provide input on the budget in a public hearing at the council meeting. The general fund portion of the budget increased by 4.6 percent compared to last year, but the departmental operating budgets only increased by 1.6 percent despite the additional salaries and benefits for the six new positions, Salvatore said. Part of that was due to projects being transferred to the city’s stormwater utility program and to the SPLOST list of road projects, he added. Mayor Harold Logsdon said Tuesday that he felt the budget was pretty solid, and that public safety — which accounts for all six new positions — should be an elected official’s top priority. Logsdon also countered critics who claim he campaigned on a promise to hold taxes down. “I said I was a proponent of tax stability in Peachtree City,” Logsdon said. Logsdon said he prefers smaller, incremental tax increases instead of avoiding a millage rate increase for several years and then raising the rate significantly to compensate for the previous years. Logsdon noted that the use of cash reserves to balance the budget has been reduced significantly. The current year’s budget — passed before Logsdon entered office — was initially projected to use $1.9 million in cash reserves, but Logsdon and city staff cut that figure by about $600,000 through various savings. This year’s current budget proposal includes the use of $350,000 in cash reserves to balance the books, pared down from the original proposal that would have used $800,000 in built-up funds. Logsdon said cash reserves should be used for unforeseen expenses, not to balance the budget. Tapping into the cash reserves also could cause a problem for the city’s bond rating, which affects the level of interest rates the city can receive. The budget includes a financing plan for more than $1.4 million in projects, including $559,000 for a larger auto repair facility that can handle servicing fire trucks, $300,000 to repair moisture problems at the Peachtree City Police Station and $245,000 to improve parking at Riley Field where the city’s youth football program is hosted. The latter may be changed as the city may look toward relocating the football program to a vacant 22-acre tract at the city’s baseball and soccer complex on Ga. Highway 74 South. To pare down the budget, council has already removed funds earmarked for the design and construction of an addition to the Gathering Place senior citizens center. Also gone are funds to re-roof City Hall, as previously unspent contingency funds from the city’s Public Improvement Program will help pay for that line item instead. The budget also includes a 25 percent increase in the monthly health insurance premiums that employees pay out of their pocket. The city’s Senior Adult Council has petitioned the City Council to include the Gathering Place expansion money, at least the $50,000 needed for design. But council members have previously noted they want to see how a proposed community center for First Baptist Church will affect programming space for the recreation department. The church has pledged to share the space with city rec programs such as the offerings for local seniors. Many seniors who patronize the Gathering Place are disappointed because the project has been on and off the back-burner for several years, and in the meantime the city has increased its athletic recreation offerings. login to post comments
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