Mr. Trapaga, first, thank you for having the intestinal fortitude to sign your letter to the editor regarding taxes. It is refreshing to see people actually put their name to their comments.

If memory serves, you have a very nice home in one of Peachtree City’s most expensive neighborhoods. Based on our conversation and correspondence, I believe your property tax bill was about $9,600. You certainly have a financial interest in the millage rates set by the City Council, as well as the School Board and the County Commission. Every property owner here shares that interest, maybe not to the same degree as your tax contribution.

During my campaign, I stressed that I was a proponent of financial responsibility. The city’s millage rate increase and the property tax assessments were not a windfall for any entity — increases due to assessments must be advertised as tax increases, even with no changes in the millage rate.

The council and I unanimously approved the millage after looking long and hard at the proposed budget, the estimated increases based on the assessments, and the need for additional public safety personnel. We also cut a lot out of the proposed budget — I feel all that could reasonably be cut while maintaining the standard of living and levels of service demanded by our citizens.

Basing tax increases on the CPI may seem reasonable; however, it is not a realistic approach when budgeting and planning for a small government. Sometimes the decision is made to increase elements at a rate lower than the CPI and delay adding staff until the need is critical.

Based on CPI, we would have added three police officers this year; however, City Council decided to add four, as public safety is a priority this year.

Additionally, sometimes the decision is made to take funds from cash reserves to balance the budget, leading to deficit spending. Last year, PTC took about $1.2 million from reserves to balance the budget.

This is not a fiscally responsible way to operate a government year after year. We reduced the amount of cash reserves used to about $400,000 this year, and I would like to continue the move away from dependence on cash reserves for the budget.

The 0.25 millage rate increase that council unanimously approved amounts to about $20 per year for a $200,000 home, which is the city’s average home price — I realize that you will be paying more. This increase was specifically adopted to fund the additional firefighters and police officers we felt were needed at this time.

Of equal concern should be the funds we are paying the county, which you also mentioned. I am sure you realize that the PTC property taxes represent only about 16 percent of the property tax bill. The council and I are continuing to try to get the county commissioners to address, even acknowledge, that PTC residents are paying county taxes for services not received, such as EMS.

The county has also been rolling back the taxes for unincorporated residents at the expense of municipal residents.

We will continue to work with the current and future commissioners to try to address this issue fairly. My concern is that you, and I, and the rest of PTC’s residents pay more to the county, and receive less service.

Reducing the county millage rate for municipal residents is another means of lowering our property tax bills, while still maintaining adequate funding for the city to provide the services our residents want. Our most recent letter to the county on this matter was in June, and we have yet to receive any type of reply.

Regarding the SPLOST, this item was approved by the voters of Fayette County for transportation needs. You should be seeing positive evidence of our use of those funds in PTC now and in the coming years.

Bottom line, this council could certainly have taken drastic action to cut the budget and roll back taxes, but they would not have been in the best interests of this community.

We could have cut recreation and the library — neither is essential to life and safety, and they require a significant portion of our tax dollars.

The paths are a nice feature, but exist in very few other cities, so they are obviously not critical. The city owns greenspace that could be sold for commercial development at a profit to the city. We could abandon the Stormwater Utility and risk violation of the federal and state laws, and subsequent fines.

I suspect the majority of our residents vehemently oppose any of the above measures. I certainly do. I also feel strongly that any changes should be made gradually, after careful consideration.

Each of the elements in our budget play a vital role in making PTC the special place that it is. The council and I will continue to evaluate our budgets in the future to continue providing outstanding services in a fiscally responsible manner. We will continue to work with the county to try to reduce taxes for services not provided.

If you have thoughts or concerns about the budget, I encourage you or any of our residents to contact me at City Hall or at hlogsdon@peachtree-city.org.

Harold Logsdon, mayor
Peachtree City, Ga.