A final public hearing and vote on Austell’s 2018-19 budget are scheduled for June 4.

The 6 p.m. meeting will be a work session since one was not held on May 28 in observance of Memorial Day.

The vote is expected to take place during the 7 p.m. meeting.

Both meetings will be held in the Council Chambers, City Hall, 2716 Broad St. SW, Austell.

With no proposed tax increase, the $8.45 million proposed budget is an increase of almost $800,000 over this year’s budget.

Denise Soesbee, director of the city’s Finance Department, noted differences in the proposed 2018-19 budget - as compared to the 2017-18 budget - in a memo to Mayor Joe Jerkins and the City Council:

  • Salary increases for all full-time employees of 5 percent
  • Increases in healthcare premiums of 10 percent, beginning Jan. 1, 2019
  • Increases in retirement costs due to changes to the city's current retirement plan
  • Increases in funds provided to special events

All of these increases will be funded primarily by franchise fee revenue and charges for services, Soesbee added.

Information: AustellGa.gov.

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Fulton DA Fani Willis (center) with Nathan J. Wade (right), the special prosecutor she hired to manage the Trump case and had a romantic relationship with, at a news conference announcing charges against President-elect Donald Trump and others in Atlanta, Aug. 14, 2023. Georgia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, upheld an appeals court's decision to disqualify Willis from the election interference case against Trump and his allies. (Kenny Holston/New York Times)

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