The Committee on Waste & Efficiency in Government will hold a public hearing on its proposals to save money and generate revenue. The meeting will be held 6 p.m. Tuesday in Atlanta City Hall’s old council chambers, located at 55 Trinity Ave. in Southeast.
Dear Hollywood, need a house to destroy? Atlanta may be able to help.
Atlanta has a plethora of dilapidated homes ripe for destruction, and filmmakers occasionally need a house to demolish. Now city officials are considering a formal arrangement with the Georgia film industry to kill two birds with one potential pyrotechnic device.
It’s just one of several ideas now being vetted at City Hall as Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed ponders ways to pay debt service on a proposed infrastructure bond worth up to $250 million. That bond, if approved by voters in 2015, will help address some of the city’s $1.1 billion infrastructure backlog.
The city has to find between $16 million and $20 million in its current budget, or in new revenue, for the bond deal. And the city has to find it fast.
To that end, officials, business and community leaders have met in recent months to propose ways to penny-pinch and tighten up the city’s finances. Many of the ideas were also submitted by residents.
The efficiency commission plans to present the proposals at a public hearing Tuesday.
“The premise was no idea is too big, too small or too stupid,” said District 7 Councilman Howard Shook, who co-chairs the commission with Delta CEO Richard Anderson.
Shook said the recommendations are preliminary in nature and will require further study.
In addition to the potential partnership between code enforcement and filmmakers, the committee proposes a host of recommendations including selling Cyclorama, implementing a tax on parking and billboards, charging for use of plastic bags and increasing municipal court fees.
Not all of the ideas are winners, at least in Shook’s view. He took aim at a recommendation to install motion activated light switches in order to save in electricity costs.
“We’re giving up on the index finger?” Shook said. “Only in government is that the viable solution … (spending) thousands of dollars turning off the light.”
The commission has until mid-June to issue its final recommendations to Reed.
Here’s a look at some of the proposed cost-cutting measures:
Film Industry and Code Enforcement Demolition Partnership
What: Through the city’s code enforcement office, provide film companies with properties that need to be demolished.
Savings: $100,000 on an annual, recurring basis
Assess city’s real estate holdings
What: While Reed has already announced plans to sell Civic Center and Underground Atlanta, this proposal suggests also selling Cyclorama and others.
Revenue: Potential for $30 to $80 million in one-time revenue and $3 million to $5 million in future annual savings.
Consider new taxes
What: Evaluate current taxes and collection methods; consider new taxes, including a parking tax, city-wide billboard tax and a Fulton County and DeKalb County transport special purpose local option sales tax, or SPLOST, referendum after the municipal option sales tax, or MOST, expires in coming years.
Revenue: Potential revenue from a 1 percent transport SPLOST is $120 million a year; a parking tax could generate upwards of $25 million annually, and potential revenue from a billboard tax could yield $3 million each year.
Impose fee for plastic bag use
What: Require stores to charge people to use plastic bags for groceries and more. (Proposal does not specify how the revenue would be passed to the city.)
Revenue: $1.1 million to $1.5 million annually
Upfront costs: $500,000 or less
Assess city’s fee and fine structure
What: Review the city’s user fees and fines, such as municipal court fines or impact fees, in comparison to other cities.
Revenue: $8 million to $11 million by Fiscal year 2016 through additional municipal court fees, impact fees, online payments and more.
E-Records for businesses and residents
What: Develop an online account in which businesses and residents can pay for city services and access public records, further reducing dependence on paper.
Savings: $450,000 on annual, recurring basis
Upfront cost: $1.6 million
Recover costs for Atlanta Police Department training for early force separation
What: This measure seeks to recover lost training funds should an officer leave for another Georgia police department.
Savings: $80,000 to $120,0000 annually
Upfront cost: Up to $50,000
Use inmate labor to clean vacant properties
What: To reduce costs of using private contractors, use inmates to “clean and close” vacant residential and commercial properties.
Savings: $250,000 annually
Upfront cost: $50,000 or less
Motion sensors in government offices
What: Install motions sensors to save energy and maintenance costs.
Savings: $810,000 to $1.7 million annually
Upfront cost: $305,000 to $1.4 million
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