Board of Commissioners starts FY23 Budget and 2022 Millage consideration

June 28, 2022 - Cobb County's Board of Commissioners received their first briefing on the proposed FY23 budget for the county's general fund, which includes a $1.15 billion budget that does not propose a millage rate increase. The budget's growth is attributed to a robust tax digest that came in 12.3 percent higher than the prior year primarily due to the residential real estate market.

Chairwoman Lisa Cupid said the upcoming budget desperately needed the tax digest increase to deal with workforce issues, both departmental requests for new positions to help serve a growing population and a large segment of the workforce that has left for higher-paying positions elsewhere.

"Driving around and seeing fast food restaurants paying $15 an hour and hearing stories of our workers struggling to put food on the table brought this issue home to me," Chairwoman Cupid said while reiterating her proposal to move starting pay for county employees to $17 an hour.

During a series of work sessions, county department managers made requests for new positions to help them keep up the demands of the county's infrastructure and a growing populace. They had asked for 658 new positions, but the proposed budget only includes 147 new full-time positions.

DOCUMENTS PRESENTED TO THE BOARD:

June 26, 2022 - Cobb's Chief Appraiser says Cobb residents living in their primary homes will save $71 million this year thanks to the homestead exemption. Facts:

• The "Floating Homestead Exemption" freezes what you pay into the county's general fund when you bought your primary residence or applied for the exemption.
• The Homestead Exemption only applies to the county's general fund, the part of county operations that include police, sheriff, courts, transportation, elections, parks, libraries, and other vital services.
• The exemption does not impact the part of your tax bill that goes to the school district, fire fund, or any applicable city taxes.
• Most homeowners below the age of 65 will find between 60 and 75 percent of their property taxes go to the school district.
• $71 million equates to about 1.7 mils of property tax revenue.

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June 21, 2022 - Commissioners will hear details on the proposed FY23 budget during an informational work session set for 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 28. This meeting will follow the Board of Tax Assessors' approval of the tax digest and will consider the recent pay and class report submitted by Evergreen during a work session earlier this year. Cobb Department Managers warned commissioners that many "critical" frontline positions remain vacant because workers have left for higher-paying jobs, and it has been challenging to replace them.

Three public hearings on the budget and millage rate will follow into late July. You can view this meeting (as well as all commission meetings) at www.cobbcounty.org/CobbTV.

Public Hearings schedule:
FY23 Budget and 2022 Millage - Tuesday, July 12 at 9 a.m.
2022 Millage - Tuesday, July 19 at 6:30 p.m.
2022 Millage - Tuesday, July 26 at 7 p.m.

More information:

Commissioners approve emergency measures for Cobb's frontline staff:
https://www.cobbcounty.org/communications/news/cobbs-board-okays-emergency-frontline-staff-incentive

Home Assessment Video featuring Cobb's Chief Assessor:
https://youtu.be/FUQcaV0okF0

Metro Atlanta Millage Rate Graph:
https://bit.ly/3xgluhQ

AJC: As the staffing crisis grows, Cobb turns to employee bonuses and private contractors:
https://t.co/rkavsUb00S

Work Sessions:

Cobb's Department Managers spoke to the Board of Commissioners about staffing issues during a series of work sessions. WATCH those work sessions through the below links:

Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021
Human Resources, Finance, Medical Examiner, Communications
https://youtu.be/bIoC-xp7PhU

Tuesday, September 28, 2021
Public Services, including Parks, Libraries, Senior Services
https://youtu.be/68XOxvxCNNU

Tuesday, October 12, 2021
District Attorney's Office, Department of Transportation
https://youtu.be/gRZVwbV9ids

Tuesday, October 26, 2021
Community Development, Superior Court
https://youtu.be/GYYzlA-ECxM

Thursday, November 18, 2021
Support Services, including Property Management, Information Services, Tax Assessor, and Purchasing
https://youtu.be/Nh5Jxw-iu6A

Tuesday, December 14, 2021
Department of Public Safety, including Police, Fire, Emergency Management and E911
https://youtu.be/m1ZhSl_iLMo

Tuesday, January 11, 2022
Probate Court, Tax Commissioner, State Court
https://youtu.be/Vdu_0nAWZvo

Tuesday, February 8, 2022
Juvenile Court, Clerk of Superior Court, Water
https://youtu.be/p1D8KF1BU9U

Tuesday, February 22, 2022
Cobb Sheriff's Office
https://youtu.be/90T5M24mZWU

Tuesday, March 8, 2022
Finance Dept's Summary of Presentations
https://youtu.be/ZUSbnavdZ8A

Public link

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