The Cobb County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday narrowly approved a new, $783.8 million spending plan for fiscal year 2016, with a 3-2 vote.
Even two of the commissioners who supported Commission Chairman Tim Lee’s budget expressed reservations before casting their votes.
Commissioners Lisa Cupid, who asked for a two-week delay to give commissioners time to tackle major revisions, and Bob Ott voted against the budget.
Commissioner JoAnn Birrell said she was disappointed that the amount of money transferred from the water company to the county's general fund increased 3-percent over last year — which goes against the commission's promise to gradually reduce the amount transferred to zero. Birrell called the increase "devastating" but said there was no other alternative except to increase the property tax rate "and I can't support that."
“It’s a workable plan,” she said.
“It wasn’t until today that we found out what the chairman’s priorities are,” Ott said. “The chairman’s priorities are not the public’s or this board’s. We’re basically shown a budget, not asked for input.”
Cupid said she was glad to see county employees given a 3-percent merit increase, instead of the 2-percent proposed in Lee’s original budget. She asked how that was possible without raising the property tax rate or subsequent cuts.
“We budget very conservatively,” County Finance Director Jim Pehrson said, adding that his office increased the amount of projected revenue from property taxes to cover the cost.
Cupid said commissioners were not aware of that possibility, and had been told previously that any additions to the budget would need an accompanying tax increase or an equal amount of cuts. She then said adding two code enforcement officers to the budget would not have an impact on the millage rate, and asked that they be added.
The code enforcement officers were not added.
The budget does add 40 police officers and two positions to the County Attorney’s office.
In other county business Tuesday:
- Commissioners unanimously approved selling $376.6 million in bonds for SunTrust Park. The county will provide $368 million toward stadium construction, with the rest being used to cover financing costs. The annual payments on the debt will be $22.4 million, or about $1.6 million a year less than expected.
- Commissioners also approved selling $10 million in bonds for the South Cobb Redevelopment Authority, which will use the money to redevelop properties in the Six Flags area. The vote was 3-2, with Ott and Birrell voting against.
To read more about the Cobb budget, go to myajc.com.
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