With the threat of a state-mandated property tax cut off the table for now, the Fulton County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday elected to spend more than $12 million on library books, squad cars and office furniture.
Commissioners unanimously approved the biggest expenditure — $11.1 million for books to stock nine new or expanded libraries that will begin opening next year. They also agreed to spend $761,483 for 34 Sheriff’s Department pursuit vehicles and — over the objections of one commissioner — $250,000 for workstations and office furniture for various departments.
The votes came less than a week after the General Assembly adjourned for the year without approving a proposal to double the size of the homestead exemption on Fulton’s property tax. The move would have cut taxes for tens of thousands of homeowners, but it would have cost the county about $48 million annually in property tax revenue.
Republican lawmakers said the homestead proposal was an attempt to force Fulton to trim a bloated budget. County officials said the proposal would have forced cuts to Grady Memorial Hospital, libraries and other popular programs.
The property tax proposal cleared the state House of Representatives but didn’t come up for a vote in the Senate before the Legislature adjourned last Thursday. The Senate could still approve the measure next year.
As they waited to see whether lawmakers would act, commissioners recently held off on some big-ticket purchases. But on Wednesday they approved them.
The library books will be paid for with money set aside in a $275 million bond issue voters approved in 2008. The bonds will fund the construction of eight new libraries and the renovation of many others.
Commissioners approved the purchase of the Sheriff’s Department vehicles — part of a statewide contract — by a vote of 4-0, with one abstention. And they voted 4-1 to buy the office furniture.
David Ricks, the county’s general services director, said the new furniture will replace county property that has outlived its usefulness. But Commissioner Liz Hausmann objected to the furniture purchase.
“We talk a lot about declining revenues,” Hausmann said. “I just don’t see the need for buying furniture at this point.”
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