The Atlanta City Council approved Mayor Kasim Reed’s nearly $568 million budget Monday, the largest spending plan in recent years as the city climbs back from the recession.
Reed made funding the Municipal Court of Atlanta, Centers of Hope, blight remediation efforts and maintaining police and fire levels the top priorities in his fifth budget plan — which is up by almost $30 million over last year. The council passed the budget by a 14 to 1 vote, with District 9 Councilwoman Felicia Moore voting against the measure.
But while many city leaders said the typically raucous budget season was one of the smoothest in years, that didn’t stop a few last-minute fireworks.
In rare disagreement with the mayor’s plans, District 11 Councilwoman Keisha Lance Bottoms pushed back against increasing the city’s municipal court budget by $3.9 million.
Bottoms, an attorney and former magistrate judge, has for months advocated for the judges to open their courtrooms five days a week. The councilwoman and some of the municipal court judges clashed in a recent public safety committee over the court’s operations.
Municipal court judges have long been criticized for overseeing hearings just four days week, a practice they say stems from deep budget cuts made by former mayor Shirley Franklin during the worst of the recession.
“As I’ve said repeatedly, the court and all the judges wish to be open five days a week,” said Chief Judge Herman Sloan to the council Monday. “The core concern has always been having sufficient staffing to be open five days a week.”
Sloan said Reed’s plans to spend millions more on the court will, among other things, help fund roughly 40 new positions it needs to operate a fuller schedule.
But Bottoms noted the court has several vacant positions and hasn’t spent all of its previous funds, and therefore should not be granted all of the additional money. The councilwoman has also pointed out nearly all city departments have returned to a five-day workweek except the judges.
Bottoms ultimately approved the budget with the court funds in tact, but is also backing efforts to place benchmarks on the court’s performance. Bottoms introduced legislation Monday to amend the city’s charter to allow Atlanta officials greater control over judge compensation and courtroom operations.
“I’m pretty hopeful that everyone heard the message loud and clear about what our expectations are,” she said in an interview Tuesday.
Other highlights from the city’s 2014-2015 budget, which will outline city spending for the fiscal year that begins July 1:
- No property tax hikes. Reed has made holding property tax rates steady a hallmark of his administration. The council voted Monday to roll back the millage rate.
- The Eastside tax allocation district is in tact. Reed initially proposed closing the district, a move that would help the city redirect the funds to help pay for an anticipated infrastructure bond worth up to $250 million. But his administration later softened its stance because of supporters who say the taxing district is still needed to help revitalize areas such as Auburn Avenue. District 1 Councilwoman Carla Smith successfully passed an amendment Monday to withdraw its closure.
- No raises for police and fire employees this year. Union leaders have met with the mayor's office during the past year over "salary compression" — the issue of some public safety workers being paid higher wages than longtime employees with more experience. But the mayor has said he won't approve raises or address salary compression while the city remains embroiled in a $48 million lawsuit with public safety unions over pension reform he championed in his first term. A judge has yet to rule on the legal challenge.
- Roughly $2.5 million in increased funding to Code Enforcement for blight remediation. More than half of that will be spent on demolition of dilapidated homes and cleaning up overgrown properties.
- City auditor gets some help. District 8 Councilwoman Yolanda Adrean sponsored an amendment to hire a new investigations manager at the auditor's office for roughly $83,000 a year.
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