Decatur, GA — The Decatur City Commission is holding a work session on Wednesday, June 9, at 5 p.m., to discuss the fiscal year 2021-2022 proposed budget and the 2020-2021 revised budget.

To attend the meeting, follow these instructions:

The meeting will be held via Zoom and attendees must register for the meeting in advance to receive the Zoom link. To register for the meeting, click here.

Community members can also participate by phone by calling (929) 205-6099 and entering the meeting ID: 95734072666.

The meeting will additionally be livestreamed on the city’s website. To view the livestream, click here.

To view the budget documents, click here.

The proposed budget is about $29.9 million, which is about $3 million higher than the revised 2020-2021 general fund budget estimate. The revised budget estimate is about $26.9 million, which is about $1.8 million lower than the adopted 2020-2021 general fund budget.

According to the budget message, some highlights in the budget include:

– The millage rate will remain the same at 13.92 mills.

– An increase in the 2021 real property tax digest is estimated at 5%.

– An increase of more than $228,000 (+10%) in health insurance costs over the 2020- 2021 Adopted Budget.

– An updated 2021-2022 pay plan that supports a “living wage” for full-time employees; and 2.5% in-step, merit-based salary increases.

– Funding of planning efforts including the completion of the 2020 Strategic Plan, a Downtown Master Plan, a Greenspace and Facilities Master Plan and a Clean Energy Plan.

– Funding earmarked for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

– Creation and funding of the East Decatur Tax Allocation District (TAD) fund.

With the budget, the city hopes to restore city services and programs that were suspended due to the pandemic, invest in city personnel and address organizational needs, fund an aggressive capital improvment fund, and promote long-term investments in community priorities, including affordable housing, mobility, climate action, economic development and civic trust, the budget message states.

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