Franklin proposes property tax increase

Some Atlanta City Council members said Thursday they’re willing to do something they wouldn’t last year — raise property taxes.

“The answer is ‘more than likely’,” said Councilwoman Joyce Sheperd, who opposed a tax hike last year. “The question is [by] how much?”

The comments came after Mayor Shirley Franklin unveiled a $541 million proposed budget Thursday morning for the coming fiscal year, which starts July 1. Her plan includes raising property taxes to collect an additional $56 million. Franklin said the city needs the increase because revenue from sales taxes and other fees is far below past levels because of the ongoing recession.

The plan also calls for an end to city worker furloughs.

The tax increase amounts to an additional $236 — or nearly $20 a month — for the average city homeowner, city officials said. The average Atlanta home is valued at $239,500. The owner of a home valued at $1 million would pay $1,161 more in property taxes.

Franklin proposed a property tax last June, but the 15-member council overwhelmingly voted instead to lower the city’s property tax rate.

On Thursday, the tone was different. Some council members, like Jim Maddox, who voted against the mayor’s proposal last year, asked Franklin if the city should consider raising taxes even higher.

“Would you be amenable to a higher increase at this point to ensure a comfort level [that would prevent budget cuts]?,” he asked.

The council must approve the budget by June 30.

Councilman Howard Shook said the change among some council members is because of their desire to end four-hours-a-week furloughs imposed on city workers last December. Homeowners have complained that the furloughs threaten public safety with police officers and firefighters working fewer hours. The furloughs would end under the mayor’s plan.

“Clearly, a property tax increase wouldn’t get very far if it wasn’t going to enhance public safety by ending the furloughs,” said Shook, chair of the council’s finance committee.

But Shook, a fiscal conservative whose district includes many of Atlanta’s wealthiest neighborhoods, said he’s reluctant to vote for a tax increase. He wants to know how actions taken by state lawmakers that did not give homeowners a tax break will impact residents if the council raises property taxes.

The mayor told reporters that she might continue the furloughs if the tax increase is not passed.

Franklin’s budget proposal is about $30 million less than the current city spending. It projects collecting $485 million in revenues. Franklin said she was confident in the projections, despite the unsteady economy. Her staff consulted with an economist from the University of Georgia to assist with the projections.

The mayor’s budget includes spreading out payments to the city’s pension plan over a longer time period, which she says would save Atlanta at least $15 million over the next year. It also includes cutting the city’s corrections department budget in half from $38.5 million to $19 million. Her staff has said it is open to negotiations to sell the city jail to Fulton County.

Bill Clement, chief executive officer of the Atlanta Life Financial Group, who has talked to the mayor about the city’s financial challenges, said the proposed tax increase is “a reasonable amount to pay to keep the city going and growing and viable.”

South Atlanta resident Charlese Brooks, 29, who is thinking about buying a commercial lot for her used car business, was less sympathetic to the city’s budget woes.

“We don’t have the money to pay the taxes,” she said.

Councilman Kwanza Hall said he wanted to hear residents’ thoughts about the plan. He posted a link to the budget on his Facebook page.

“I’ve got to weigh everything and I want to hear from my constituents,” he said. “It’s a lot to digest.”