Cobb Commission Chair to deliver State of County address

Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid will deliver the annual State of the County address on Thursday. Lisa Cupid, Cobb Commission Chair candidate

The event typically has been sponsored by the Cobb Chamber of Commerce but this year she opted for it to be conducted independently by county government.

The address begins at 7 p.m. at Jim Miller Park and will be aired live on the county’s website (cobbcounty.org/CobbTV) and its YouTube channel (youtube.com/cobbcountygovt.)

The address comes as Cobb commissioners and county government officials are preparing for budget season—Cobb’s fiscal year starts on Oct. 1—and with four cityhood campaigns on elections ballots this year.

County department heads have been submitting their budget requests in recent weeks, and their requests total around $1.2 billion, an increase of nearly $180 million more than the current fiscal year 2022 budget.

Much of that comes from combined requests to add nearly 700 county employees to address staff shortages in a number of departments.

Only four new full-time positions were filled in the current budget and none were approved for FY 2020.

Cobb officials also have been addressing the three cityhood referendums coming up on May 24, including East Cobb, Vinings and Lost Mountain, and a likely referendum in November in Mableton.

At a town hall meeting last week at the Sewell Mill Library, they repeated estimates that if all four cityhood referendums pass—affecting more than 200,000 people, more than a quarter of Cobb’s population—the county would lose an estimated $41 million a year.

In April, Cobb commissioners will get a preview of the 2022 county tax digest, which typically is formalized in July as they are completing budget adoption.

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