Volatile spending
Gwinnett County officials are in the midst of deciding how much money may be available for service expansion or raises in their 2015 budget. Here is the amount of additional spending requested by departments each year, and the amount granted, since 2007. Gwinnett’s 2014 budget was $1.5 billion.
Year…..Department requests…..Total granted
2007…..$37,638,009…..$14,570,759
2008…..$39,217,871…..$9,069,780
2009…..$9,890,346…..$7,431,656
2010…..-$24,189,026…..$2,580,970
2011…..$20,088,860…..$2,809,858
2012…..-$845,234…..-$2,915,036
2013…..$6,809,263…..-$1,058,549
2014…..$6,790,304…..$4,716,742
2015…..$17,834,748…..unknown
The hopes are high: Nearly $7 million in raises at the police and fire departments; $3 million for a new fire station; $775,000 for longer library hours; $500,000 to add bus service on Saturdays.
All told, more than $17.8 million in requests for raises and expanded services are now being vetted by a committee of Gwinnett County residents, on their way to an expected January vote by elected officials. Chances are, everyone won’t come out with what they want.
The grand total doesn’t take into account cost increases in existing services. But the approval or denial of the requests from 15 county departments could have an impact on everything from fire response times to whether or not someone can get to work on the weekend.
“I don’t want to give the impression that all, or even most of it, is going to be approved,” Gwinnett Commission Chairman Charlotte Nash said. “It certainly is better to be in this position, since we had five years of not being able to add much at all.”
Across metro Atlanta, the story is the same. After years of cuts or minimal expansions, leaders are able to consider raises and restoring some programs that were ignored or given short shrift through the recession. In some areas, like Fulton County, higher taxes will pay for the improvements. In others, rising property values can cover some of the costs.
Gwinnett County, whose 2014 budget is $1.5 billion, is expecting to bring in roughly $20 million more in property taxes this year than last. The county elected not to roll back property tax rates as home values rose, meaning many residents will pay more on their tax bills. But the additional money won’t translate into blanket approval for the slate of expanded service requests.
In part, that’s because the service requests come from many different funds. Money for a new fire station, for example, would come from a fund dedicated to fire services, while those for new parks would come from Gwinnett’s recreation fund. In total, there are requests for money from 10 different funds.
And Nash may decide she and the commissioners have other priorities that the departments didn’t ask about: replacing aging roofs, for example, or spending money to encourage redevelopment in the county, a priority for commissioners.
Last year, the county approved $4.7 million in requests, 69 percent of the total asks. The year before that, there were requests for $6.8 million in additional spending, but $1.1 million was cut instead.
In 2007, Gwinnett approved $14.6 million in new spending, 39 percent of the total requests.
The committee’s recommendations are expected in October.
Items like the new fire station near Georgia Gwinnett College are strong contenders, Nash said. It’s something that would have been added earlier, if not for the economic downturn. But it will be harder to decide about things like raises and library hours.
“We’re going to have to see where things fit in terms of dollars available,” she said. “If we address compensation, it reduces what’s available for everything else.”
Everything sounds good to Hamilton Mill resident Robert Smith. Expanded bus service will help make the county run. New fire stations are always good to have. And raises are probably necessary, he said.
“I’m pleased at what they’ve done,” Smith said of county leaders. “I think they do a great job.”
Other county residents would like to see improvements in the services they use most. To keep track of the varied library hours, Lawrenceville resident Regina Durham has kept a copy of their opening and closing times in her planner for the past two years. She goes to the library on a weekly basis, but has to check that it will be open before every trip.
Consistent hours “would be great,” she said. The library has proposed expanding its hours so each branch opens and closes at the same time. The expansion would still not restore the library to its pre-recession hours.
Nita Bhiwandker moved from Bombay 20 years ago, but she still misses the ease of public transportation. A tutor, Bhiwandker said many of her students have trouble getting to group projects or to their weekend jobs because there is no weekend bus service. When she uses the bus, she said, it is always packed.
“The transportation situation, to me, is so stuck. It is so frustrating,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be such a painful experience.”
Nash said she understands that the needs in the community are varied. But she wants to ensure that if county leaders budget for new positions, they are able to sustain them in the future. And some improvements are mandated by state or federal officials, meaning the county has no choice but to spend the money.
“There’s no dispute about the goodness of having additional library hours,” Nash said. “It’s more a matter of what we can afford to do. …It’s one thing to buy a piece of equipment. It’s another to add employees who want to be paid going forward. We still have to be very, very careful.”
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