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Decatur City Commission to meet for budget work session

Decatur

Decatur City Commission to meet for budget work session

Decatur City Hall.
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Decatur, GA — The Decatur City Commission will meet on Wednesday, June 8 from 5-7:30 p.m. for a work session on the fiscal year 2022-2023 proposed budget and the fiscal year 2021-2022 revised budget.

The meeting will be held in person at Decatur City Hall, 509 N. McDonough Street, as well as Zoom.

To access the meeting, follow these instructions:

To view the agenda, click here.

The budget is available to view online. Hard copies of the budget are available at City Hall and the Decatur Library. To view the budget, click here.

This meeting will be held in-person. Members of the public wishing to view the meeting may attend the meeting in one of two ways:

1. Attend in-person by coming to Decatur City Hall, 509 N. McDonough St.

2. Register in advance at https://zoom.us/j/95625018126. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. You may also participate by phone by calling (929) 205-6099 and entering the meeting ID (The 11-digit number shown in the Zoom registration link.)

NOTE – This meeting will utilize virtual meeting technology. We cannot guarantee it will operate as planned.

Members of the public may also view the live broadcast of the Decatur City Commission meeting at https://www.decaturga.com/citycommission/page/streaming-video

The Decatur City Commission held a public hearing on the budget on June 6 and will hold another public hearing on Tuesday, June 21, at 7:30 p.m. during the city commission meeting. The board anticipates adopting the FY 22-23 budget and the revised FY 21-22 budget on June 21.

The revised FY 21-22 budget, which is the current fiscal year, states the city will receive about $29.6 million in general fund revenue and spend the same amount. The FY 22-23 budget proposes the city will receive about $32.6 million in general fund revenue and will spend the same amount.

“The revised the budget does decrease by $369,000 over the current budget and the proposed increases about $3.9 million, or over 8%,” City Manager Andrea Arnold said during the June 6 city commission meeting. “At this point, the budget itself has no change in the overall millage rate, but the budget does assume a 5% increase in the overall tax digest. The tax digest has come in higher than that.”

Part of the increased FY 22-23 budget is due to increases in personnel services.

“The Personnel Services category increases $2,152,160 in the 2022-2023 Proposed General Fund Budget Estimate over the 2021-2022 Revised General Fund Budget Estimate,” the budget summary states. “Within that category, full-time salaries increase $1,276,560 due to the full funding for all authorized positions, an increase in group insurance and the addition of nine full-time positions contribute to the increase.”

There are a number of new positions in the budget in a variety of areas including equity, housing, community health, public safety, facilities and greenspace, and recreation and active living. Funding is anticipated to be allocated for multiple plans, like the downtown master plan, the parks and recreation master plan and the racial equity action plan. The city estimates full funding for all positions proposed in the budget.

The FY 22-23 budget also includes 2.5% merit-based pay increases for full-time employees and a 2.5% cost of living adjustment for all full-time employees. Hourly wages for Active Living program leaders and crossing guards will also increase by 50 cents.

After salaries, group insurance is the largest personnel services expenditure in the general fund at about $3.5 million. This expense increases by about $458,000, which is an increase of 13%.

Capital improvements in the budget include sidewalks, street improvements, bike lanes, improvements to fields and park space, housing and other athletic facilities, Arnold said.

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