HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-19-2010 special called meeting
City Council of Peachtree City
Minutes of Special Called Meetiug
August 19, 2010
7:30 a.m.
The City Council of Peachtree City met Thursday, August 19, 2010, in the City Hall Council
Chambers. Mayor Don Haddix called the meeting to order at 7:30 a.m. Council Members
present: Vanessa Fleisch, Erik lmker, and Kim Leamard. Doug Sturbaum arrived at 7:33 a.m.
The purpose of the meeting was to hold a public hearing for the proposed millage rate. Mayor
Haddix set a time limit of 8 :00 a.m. on the meeting.
Financial Services Director Paul Salvatore gave a brief PowerPoint presentation (a copy is
included in the meeting file). Salvatore said the current millage rate for maintenance and
operation (M&O) was set at 5.134 mills. The proposed M&O rate was 6.384 mills, an increase
of 1.25 mills, representing an increase of 19.1% over the rollback millage rate of 5.36 mills,
which was higher than usual due to the decline in the tax digest. The current bond millage rate
was set at 0.399 mills and would not change for 2010
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Salvatore continued that the total proposed millage rate (bond and M&O) was 6.783 mills. The
1.25 mill increase would generate approximately $2,288,953 to support General Fund operations.
This millage rate option would also result in the lowest total millage rate by 2015 than the other
options considered. Any reserves generated in excess of the 20% minimum required would be
used to offset anticipated shortfalls in FY 2013 and beyond [Special Purpose Local Option Sales
Tax (SPLOST) funds would run out in 2013, and the Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) would be
renegotiated based on population in" 2b 13].
Salvatore went over the overall tax bill for City residents, which included the Board of
Education, Fayette County, and state taxes. Overall, the bills would have just over a 0.5 mill
decrease. Based on the information from the tax digest, the average value of a home in the City
had decreased from $272,000 to just under $260,000. The net impact of the changes on the
average tax bill was about $220.
Salvatore also looked at the five-year models, noting that if the 1.25 mill increase was approved,
there would be 0.196 mill increases each subsequent year that could possibly be avoided, for a
total millage rate of 7.168 in 2015. The reserve balance would be drawn down to the 20%
minimum during that period.
The public hearing opened.
Tim Lydell addressed Council, saying a number of contentious points had been raised about the
budget, but the common thread was that everyone on Council wanted to do good for the City.
They needed a common direction. He did not want to see a 1.25 mill increase, but he supported
,...., it. Lydell said the City was where it was, and they had to get on with it. It was good to set
mileposts and goals for the current and future Councils. The 1.25 mill increase was the way to
do it without an undue burden on taxpayers. The City had an advantage over businesses in that it
City Council Special Called Meetiug Miuutes
August 19, 2010
Page 2
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had a guaranteed income from taxes. Council needed to ensure that services and employees were
not hurt. He continued that employees did not create the problem, but they were the biggest
expense. He suggested looking at reducing staff in the long term through attrition, retraining,
and using technology when possible. The City also needed to look at the services that were
provided, whether they were needed, whether the services were paying for themselves, and
whether they could be provided more efficiently and effectively. He noted that Imker had
suggested a number of things that could be done, and he encouraged Council to look at those
items as a basis for moving forward. Lydell supported having someone in a development role, a
director to bring business into the City, who could do what needed to be done so empty
properties could be used. The position should be looked as an investment and should be looked
at immediately. He encouraged Council to consider the 1.25 mill increase and the addition of a
development director to the budget, then figure out where to take that money. He suggested
using a portion of the annual Occupational Tax paid by businesses to fund the development
director's position since that person would bring more business to the City, which would reduce
the burden on the taxpayers.
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Al Yougel discussed an article he had read recently where the writer had speculated on what a
well-known management guru would have said about the economic crisis, and the quote would
have been, "I told you so." Yougel continued that, ifhe had written an article about Peachtree
City, he would say the management guru would have said, "there are no heroics for cleaning up
yesterdays; it just had to be done." He agreed that a 1.25 millage rate increase was good, and he
would support a bigger increase just to get the job done.
The public hearing closed.
The motion carried unanimously. The meeting
Dt2M~~
Learnard moved to adjourn. Fleisch seconded.
adjourned at 7:45 a.m.
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