Coweta | News | Peachtree City

PTC $34M budget OK’d on 4-1 vote

Thu, 08/10/2006 - 3:28pm
By: John Munford

Includes four new cops, three new firefighters

Peachtree City’s $34.8 million budget got a 4-1 vote of approval by the City Council last week.

The negative vote came from Councilman Steve Boone, who said he “adamantly opposed” adding four new police officers without justification. Councilwoman Judi-ann Rutherford asked Boone if he to re-open the budget discussions to try and cut more items from the budget to pay for the police officers and three additional firefighters in the budget.

Boone didn’t reply, and Mayor Harold Logsdon said he didn’t want to re-open the budget for discussion either although he didn’t like the use of cash reserves to balance the budget.

The budget will require a .25 mill tax increase, which will cost an additional $20 this year for a home valued at $200,000. That does not include the resulting tax increase from a property based on the increase in its valuation.

Boone said it would cost about $300,000 to hire and equip all four new police officers. He said he would rather reduce the amount of cash reserves the city plans on using to balance the budget.

Councilman Stuart Kourajian disagreed. He said two recent crimes, the attack of a 14-year-old by three teens on a cart path and the arrest of a suspect who sold crystal meth on a cart path, warranted the presence of more officers.

City resident Steve Wanderman said he felt the new employees were necessary.

“I think public safety is the backbone of a city,” Wanderman said.

Mayor Harold Logsdon credited the work of city staff in preparing and adjusting the budget as it went through the process.

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Public Safety
Submitted by Oh Boy on Wed, 08/16/2006 - 6:50pm.

To answer the question...I believe we have about three more years of Boone. After sitting through some of the budget hearings etc, it became evident that the Police and Fire Departments had done their homework and were requesting what they needed. If you check the Annual Reports for the Police, they show that our PD has far less officers per capita than other cities our size. What does Boone think happens whenever an armed robbery, burlary, or other substantial crime occurs in our city. Common sense tells you that the officers who were working on solving all of the other crimes here have to reset their priorities. In addition, all of the citizens who request service (cars locked in vehicles, funeral escorts, theft/fraud calls) have to wait to have in line. Adding more police makes sense - perhaps the reason Boone fails to see this. Adding more Fire personnel makes sense - Boone doesn't have a problem with this. Hummmm....the question is - what is Boone's beef with the PD, or better yet, who does he know that has a beef with the PD. I for one wish that ALL of our City Council supported ALL department's within the city.

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Aiming low
Submitted by IMNSHO on Wed, 08/16/2006 - 7:40pm.

***requesting what they needed***

I would guess that they were requesting what they thought they could realistically get. Requesting what they needed (need) would be asking for more than 4/3. Better to aim low and get it, than aim high and get nothing.

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Your probably right
Submitted by Oh Boy on Wed, 08/16/2006 - 8:20pm.

Ya, you're probably right. With the presentations that I saw, I'll agree with you. Regardless of whether it's what they need or what they "could get", it's appauling to me that Councilman Boone does not feel that Public Safety needs are important - at least not on the law enforcement side of it. I hate that it takes all of these crimes to open peoples eyes to what happens everyday in every city...even Peachtree City.

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Our Safety
Submitted by skyspy on Fri, 08/11/2006 - 7:10am.

Our safety is the selling point of this city. Thank you for adding more police officers and firemen. We need these people more than they need us. Especially after the kind of summer we have had. We have had a summer filled with gratuitous crime served up by worthless thug teens, and one armed robber.
Last week someone implied that the reason steve boone objected to more police, is because he has been on the wrong side of the law. What has become of the open records search? He once again was the only vote against safety,.....why? When is his term up?

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Good start
Submitted by IMNSHO on Thu, 08/10/2006 - 3:57pm.

I've not liked anything I've seen so far from Mayor Logsden, and don't know how involved he is or isn't in the budget process (as compared to the council), but I'm glad to have something to feel good about in his term. Hiring 4 new police officers and 3 new firefighters is the first positive thing I've heard of in his term. It's not enough (especially not enough firefighters), and they're all still extremely underpaid, but it is a good start.

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