By Logan C. Ritchie, contributor 

Tucker, GA – In a special called meeting on May 4, Tucker’s mayor and city council members reviewed a draft of the city’s budget for fiscal year 2021, which runs July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021.

According to a city memo, Tucker’s 2021 revenue projections are down 20 percent, or $2.9 million.

The memo states, “Revenue projections were extremely difficult in the current state of shutdowns due from COVID-19. The length of the shutdowns and the overall impact to the economy and more directly to the city’s revenue is uncertain.”

The projected contingency budget is being increased to $1.7 million to ensure sufficient reserves for a possible economic downturn.

Tucker’s 2020 General Fund was $13 million. Currently, the 2021 General Fund budget is estimated at $14 million.

The total General Fund expenditures are a $371,000 increase from 2020 due to an increase in staff, the construction of a new City Hall, the merging of traffic court and municipal court budget, and line item changes in operations.

City Manager Tami Hamlin, City Engineer Ken Hildebrandt, and Parks and Recreation Director Rip Robertson presented a preliminary list of projects supported by the city’s General Fund and DeKalb’s Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) money. The wish list included road improvements, playground installation, and new software for traffic court.

Submitted SPLOST expenditures are down $100,000 from 2020.

The amount coming in from DeKalb SPLOST for 2021 is unknown. Due to economic changes during the pandemic, consumer spending in DeKalb is down. Tucker officials estimate a dip in business occupation tax, franchise fees, insurance premium tax, and building permits.

Tucker plans to present a first read of the budget at the May 26 City Council meeting.

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