Decatur, GA — The Decatur City Commission will hold the final two millage rate and budget public hearings on Tuesday, June 20, at 11:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m., at Decatur City Hall, 509 N. McDonough Street. The meetings will also be available through Zoom. 

At Tuesday’s meeting, the city commission will also consider approving the budget for Fiscal Year 2024.

The city commission is considering lowering the millage rate from 13.17 to 12.47 mills. The city’s proposed FY 2023-2024 budget was created based on an estimated increase of 5% in the tax digest and proposes no change to the millage rate. However, the tax digest increased by 14.7%, City Manager Andrea Arnold said.

To access the 11:30 a.m. public hearing, follow these instructions: 

To view the agenda, click here.

This meeting will be held in-person. Members of the public wishing to participate in 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/91271847566. 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. If your participation must be a matter of public record, attend the meeting in person or email your comments to City Manager Andrea Arnold at [email protected] by 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, June 20th.

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 city commission will vote on the millage rate, the proposed fiscal year 2023-2024 budget, and the revised 2022-2023 budget during its regular meeting on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

To access the 7:30 p.m meeting, follow these instructions:

To view the agenda, click here.

This meeting will be held in-person. Members of the public wishing to participate during either the “Public Comment” or “Requests and Petitions” portions of 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/94475277689. 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. If your participation must be a matter of public record, attend the meeting in person or email your comments to City Manager Andrea Arnold at [email protected] by 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 20th.

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

Last year, the city commission lowered the millage rate by about the same amount, 0.75 mills. The millage rate decreased from 13.92 mills to 13.17 mills. In 2022, for a home valued at $500,000, the taxes were about $3,018 with a general homestead exemption.

“For these purposes, we are assuming a home with the same value, with the reduced millage rate, and that will be $2,856.50. That is a reduction of $161.75,” Arnold said. “That is prior to any change with the homestead exemptions. Assuming that the homestead exemptions go into effect, and we go up to $40,000 for the general homestead, that would be an additional $82 in savings.”

A millage rate of 12.47 mills would generate an additional $1 million for the city and would reduce the amount of fund balance required to balance the budget. Arnold said the revenue generated would be attributed to property reassessments.

The proposed FY 2023-2024 budget projects about $39 million in revenues, and the city is projected to spend the same amount. The proposed budget is about $7.6 million higher than the revised fiscal year 2022-2023 budget, and most of the increase is related to personnel costs. The revised budget for the Fiscal Year 2022-2023 is $636,500 less than the adopted FY 2022-2023 budget, Arnold said during a city commission work session on June 7

“Last year, we talked about the budget being bold and while certainly I believe that the budget that has been presented continues in that vein, even more so than being bold, I think about this budget in particular as truly an investment,” Arnold said.

She added that it’s an investment in the city’s employees, the community, children and youth, the strategic plan, and capital infrastructure.

Here are some other highlights of the proposed budgets:

– Use of about $4.1 million in fund balance from the general fund to stay within the city’s financial policy guidelines.

– Staff-related costs make up 61.6% of the budget.

– Increases to all regular, full-time salaries in response to a pay study, including adjustments to a living wage and minimum increase of 8.35% to compete with the job market in addition to compression adjustments.

– Multiple position reclassifications and 11 additional full-time positions.

– Next steps for the Equity Action Plan, Downtown Master Plan, Parks and Recreation Master Plan, Storm Water Master Plan, and Clean Energy Plan.

– Creation of a community energy fund and a school zone camera community safety program fund to account for associated projects.

– Funding earmarked for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

– Creation of a new Parks and Recreation Department, combining the Active Living division and Children and Youth Services division. The transfer of the Children and Youth Services budget from a separate fund to the General Fund accounts for 35% of the overall budget increase.

This year’s Budget as Art Collection features original artwork by local artist, Sanithna Phansavanh, titled “Cultivate (2023).”

“The artist uses botanicals that are tended and nurtured to represent caring stewardship,” Arnold wrote in the budget message. “Elected officials and staff share a commitment and responsibility of stewardship for our community and our city organization. The proposed budget cultivates values and priorities that allow us to serve all people in the City of Decatur equitably and with compassion.”

This is the third installment of the Budget as Art Collection. The city began incorporating art into the budget in fiscal year 2021-2022.

“An effective budget is a policy document, a financial plan, an operations guide, and a communications tool,” Arnold told Decaturish. “Over the years, the city has focused on the budget as a communications tool and has worked to make the budget more appealing to community members, all of whom have a stake in the outcome of the annual budget. Incorporating art into the budget document is a way to highlight the vision and values reflected in the city’s budget. And, hopefully, the cover art will invite more people to read what is behind the cover.”

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