UPDATED: Despite major trimming to the budgets of all city departments in the last year, the City of Conyers continues to adjust an already lean budget in response to a decrease in property taxes and fines and forfeitures.
The City Council approved an updated budget Wednesday night with a decrease of $308,000, leaving the city with a total budget of $12,858,194 for the fiscal year ending June 30.
“We are going to have to get real creative in the next five months,” said Mayor Randy Mills of the budget adjustments necessary for the city to maintain a balanced budget through June. “In areas where we can increase our revenue, that is what we are going to have to go after and we are going to have to be very savvy and put our creative hats on to see what we can come up with.”
The city originally budgeted for an expected revenue decrease of nearly $700,000 this fiscal year, meaning the budget will now be $1 million less than in the previous year with the recent adjustments.
Chief Financial Officer Isabel Rogers told the council the latest shortage in revenue is due to a decrease in property tax following appeals that were approved after the budget was approved coupled with a decrease in property assessments, a statement echoed by Councilman Gerald Hinesley Wednesday night.
“We are continuing down a slipper slope as we have for the last few years and I don’t think that we will see that change in the near future” said Hinesley, who co-chairs the city’s finance committee. “The city is doing more with less. The reality is property assessments have declined 9 percent since 2008. They have gone from $606 million to $552 million. Property tax bills have decreased from $5.7 million to $5.4 million. When you take into account appeals, that $5.4 million drops to $5.1 million, which is a decrease of nearly $600,000 since 2008.
Cuts were made by each department throughout the city, with the police department suffering the largest budget cuts at $133,275 less than was spent the previous year. Other departments that are also operating with a significant decrease in funding include technology, administration, planning and development and Georgia International Horse Park events. Other measures taken to remedy the shortfall included eliminating the annual 5 percent performance increases for employees and “freezing” the positions currently vacant throughout city departments.
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(Feb. 7, 1:30 a.m.) IN BRIEF: Despite major trimming to the budgets of all city departments last year, the City of Conyers continues to adjust an already lean budget in response to a decrease in property taxes and fines and forfeitures.
City council approved an updated budget Wednesday night with a decrease of $308,000, leaving the city with a total budget of $12,858,194 for the fiscal year ending June 30.
"We are going to have to get real creative in the next five months," Mayor Randy Mills said. The budget adjustments necessary for the city to maintain a balanced budget through July. "In areas where we can increase our revenue that is what we are going to have to go after and we are going to have to be very savvy and put our creative hats on to see what we can come up with."
