The services demanded most by residents, along with money dedicated to making internal fixes to restore public confidence in county government, are the key focuses of interim DeKalb CEO Lee May’s proposed 2014 budget.
Details of the $562 million proposed budget, which calls for the tax rate to remain at 21.21 mills, are still being worked out. But a draft obtained exclusively by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution calls for expanding several key services and beefing up the integrity in the scandal-laden government.
“Hopefully everyone sees a budget that is making us a more competitive county, a cleaner county and a safer county,” May said Monday. “This is a good start for where we want to be.”
Among specific changes:
• Spending $6.6 million and $2.9 million to hire 160 police officers and 100 firefighters, respectively. The move fulfills a promise May made to public safety workers last fall and is designed to offset high attrition that has left hundreds of jobs unfilled.
• Setting aside $1.6 million to increase litter patrols and partner with state agencies and local businesses to better maintain major roadways and intersections. A “gateway” program to spiff up major county entry points such as LaVista Road and I-285 and Candler Road and I-20 will be part of that effort.
• Creating an office of accountability – a no-cost proposal that will assemble staffers from the law, purchasing and finance departments – to provide an extra layer of oversight and response on county contracts. That, and increasing the county’s ethics board budget tenfold to $118,000, are in direct response to the special grand jury probe into allegations of corruption. A 15-count indictment is pending against suspended CEO Burrell Ellis.
“This is a very, very important first step toward restoring confidence in DeKalb County government,” said John Ernst, a member of the ethics board who, with board chairman Isaac Blythers, had pushed for more money to make the watchdog panel more professional and efficient by hiring a full-time attorney and paying for training.
May had limited time to prepare the budget, after being appointed in the interim slot this summer. But his two terms on the county commission served him well in understanding the issues that most capture residents’ attention.
Cynthia Tucker, a public health consultant who lives near Stone Mountain, said she was especially pleased to learn that $350,000 is made available to hire seven more code enforcement officers.
The county, with 700,000 residents and more than 200,000 homes, has struggled to maintain enforcement with just 25 officers for several years.
“There has to be a lot of soul searching in DeKalb, to improve internally so they can improve the county,” Tucker said. “I’m pleased to see it going in this direction.”
Additional details about the proposed spending plan will be released later this week.
The proposal goes next before the budget committee of the county commission for review. The commission is slated to vote on a budget early next year.
About the Author
