More than 200 Fulton County employees might be out of a job by the end of June as the county cuts a variety of services to balance its budget.
Under a proposal presented to the Board of Commissioners Wednesday, the county library system would take the biggest hit, with 98 positions lost, including 70 part-timers who are already gone. The county’s soon-to-close homeless shelters and workforce development office are among the other departments that will see a reduction in employees.
On Wednesday commissioners postponed action on the proposal for two weeks. Greg Fann, executive director of the county’s employee union, said he wants a chance to meet with County Manager Dwight Ferrell before a decision is made.
“Employees are fearful and scared,” Fann told commissioners. “They don’t know what’s going to happen to them.”
Ferrell’s plan would cut 214 of the county’s more than 5,000 positions, including 58 full-time and 86 temporary employees, plus the 70 part-time library employees who have already lost their jobs. The county also would eliminate 50 vacant positions. The affected employees will be notified beginning May 20, and the layoffs would take effect June 30.
County Commission Chairman John Eaves said some of the 58 full-time jobs already have been lost through attrition. He said some employees who lose their jobs might be placed in other county jobs.
The potential layoffs are the latest fallout from a 2014 budget crunch that has a little something to make everyone angry. Faced with a $99 million budget shortfall, commissioners in January agreed to reduce library hours, raise fees at senior centers, close the Jefferson Street Homeless Shelter and cut funding for workforce development programs and Grady Memorial Hospital.
To top it off, the $625.4 million general fund budget – which pays for a variety of countywide services – assumes commissioners will raise the property tax rate by 15 percent this summer. State lawmakers say the tax hike would be illegal under a tax freeze they approved last year.
How much individual property tax bills will rise depends on property assessments to be mailed next month. If commissioners don’t raise taxes, more dramatic budget cuts could follow.
The budget crunch has been years in the making. While other metro Atlanta counties raised property tax rates in recent years as the Great Recession took its toll on property tax revenue, Fulton commissioners held back. Instead, they’ve been dipping into reserves to balance the budget. A year ago Fitch Ratings cut Fulton’s credit rating, citing – among other things – its dwindling reserves and the property tax freeze.
Now commissioners have cut spending on popular programs.
Some programs already are shutting down. The homeless shelter stopped accepting new clients on March 11 and will close June 30. The county dental program for low-income residents stopped accepting adult clients Feb. 1. Its workforce development program will close four career centers July 1.
Libraries previously were open six or seven days a week. Now most are open only four or five days a week.
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