SNELLVILLE – Mayor and Council unanimously adopted the staff proposed $13.61 million General Fund budget covering July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022.
This balanced budget relies on no added property tax revenue so it will allow Mayor and Council to maintain the current Millage Rate for the seventh straight year when they decide that levy in early July.
Gross spending is up 4.25 percent, but with a $385,000 carryover from Fiscal Year 2021 for a Community Development Block Grant project, real spending only rises by 1.35 percent.
The budget allows the city to maintain a competitive salary structure in all service areas and addresses infrastructure needs in several areas: $750,000 is budgeted for street resurfacing, needed stormwater repairs/replacement is funded at $950,800 and sanitation/recycling services are maintained with a subsidy of $800,000. Capital equipment spending includes state-mandated election equipment of $53,000, a new dump truck for public works of $70,000 and the aforementioned $385,000 for Phase 2 of the city Greenway which will extend from City Hall to Briscoe Park.
Revenues have remained better than expected through the COVID-19 pandemic period as housing construction has strengthened the city’s permitting fees and new commercial development in The Grove at Towne Center has helped commercial permitting. For the first time in three years, no fund balance usage is forecast in this budget.
“We feel good about our budget plan and we believe our citizens will see continued excellent city services along with new projects and improvements to look forward to,” Mayor Barbara Bender said. “We also wanted to show that we value our employees and to make sure they are fairly paid with good benefits.”