Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The fast-casual chain MOD Pizza has been closing a number of restaurants across the country in recent months, and recently that included its location at Sandy Plains Marketplace (3460 Sandy Plains Road, Suite 250).
The Seattle-based chain closed 26 locations in the first quarter of 2024, according to Restaurant Business Magazine, and earlier this month the company was purchased by Elite Restaurant Group as financial pressures mounted.
That report indicated that 44 closures have taken place following reports of possible bankruptcy.
MOD stands for “Made on Demand” and is the focal concept of a build-your-0wn pizza product. Nation’s Restaurant News says MOD has more than 500 restaurants remaining as it reorganizes under new ownership.
Five MOD Pizza restaurants operate in metro Atlanta, including on Cobb Parkway in Kennesaw and in Sandy Springs.
MOD was one of several nation and regional chain restaurants that opened at the then-new Sandy Plains Marketplace—on the site of the former Mountain View Elementary School—right before the COVID-19 pandemic was declared.
The others are still open: First Watch; Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar; Jim ‘N N ick’s BBQ; Panda Express and Clean Juice.
The major vacancy at the 72,689-square-foot retail center is the former GreenWise Market space. The Publix-operated organic foods grocery store closed in late 2021, after less than a year and a half in business.
WZ Tavern goes indie
After nearly nine years in business, the WZ Tavern located nearby at 3052 Shallowford Road has changed its name.
The “WZ” stood for Wing Zone, a Las Vegas-based chain which had an agreement with the East Cobb owners that has ended.
It’s now called Home Tavern, and it promises the same ambience with some menu changes. “Our new menu will include many of our long-standing favorites, along with new items that continue our Chef inspired commitment to delicious food!”
The situation is similar to another local wing institution, The Wing Cafe & Tap House, which broke away from the Wild Wing Cafe chain several years ago and has been at the same space at East Lake Shopping Center for more than 20 years.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The Little Brazil Foundation, based in East Cobb, has announced it’s holding a community fair for the first time.
The event it set for Saturday, Aug. 17, from 12-8 p.m. at the Eastgate Shopping Center (1802 Lower Roswell Road).
Businesses and organizations are invited to help sponsor the event and set up a booth to exhibit their wares. If you’re interested contact Dilla Campos at 770-953-4250.
The fair will highlight Brazilian culture, businesses, products and services.
The Little Brazil Foundation, which was launched in April, serves a growing Brazilian emigre community in the Cobb and metro Atlanta, area with legal assistance, professional guidance, translation services and consulate support.
It also sponsors cultural and educational events, including basic English classes for children, health projects and more.
The East Cobb area is a focal point of the local Brazilian community, and includes a variety of businesses and restaurants in the Powers Ferry-Windy Hill area, as well as parts of East Marietta.
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Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Members of the Cobb Board of Commissioners have been called to attend a special-called meeting and hold an executive session Thursday.
According to a notice filed by County Clerk Pam Mabry, commissioners will gather at 1:30 p.m. Thursday “to vote to go into executive session to discuss matters which may be properly discussed in Executive Session.”
There were no more specifics indicated in that notice, which was sent to East Cobb News by the Cobb communications office in response to more information.
Under Georgia law, elected bodies can hold executive sessions for three reasons: land, legal or property matters, and a specific reason must be stated before the executive session is held.
Cobb commissioners hold three official voting meetings per month: Regular sessions on the second and fourth Tuesday, and a zoning hearing on the third Thursday.
They also typically hold one or two work sessions a month, also in public.
The announcement of Thursday’s meetings comes days after a Cobb judge ruled the Cobb commission’s “home rule” redistricting maps violated the Georgia Constitution, and ordered new elections for commission races in District 2 and District 4.
The lawsuit was filed against the Cobb Board of Elections, which also used the “home rule” maps in the May primaries.
Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid said in a response to that ruling on Friday that “I respect the judge’s ruling and we are assessing how to move forward.”
County spokesman Ross Cavitt told East Cobb News in response to a question if the county would appeal by saying that “there has been no discussion at this point about any further legal action.”
In her ruling last Thursday, Cobb Superior Court Judge Kellie Hill was hearing the appeal of Alicia Adams, a Republican who had been disqualified in District 2 after filing to run under maps approved in 2022 by the Georgia General Assembly.
Those maps drew current District 2 Commissioner Jerica Richardson out of her East Cobb home. She and the commission’s two other Democrats voted in October 2022 to observe maps drawn by the Cobb legislative delegation, citing “home rule” privileges.
But Hill confirmed a January ruling by Cobb Superior Court Judge Ann Harris that the “home rule” maps violated the Georgia Constitution, which gives the legislature the authority to conduct reapportionment for county electoral maps.
The county wasn’t a party to Adams’ complaint, but it did appeal a separate lawsuit challenging the “home rule” maps after Harris’ ruling. The Georgia Supreme Court in May declined to take up that appeal, claiming the plaintiffs, a Cobb married couple, lacked standing.
East Cobb resident Mindy Seger, a Democratic activist and ally of current District 2 Cobb Commissioner Jerica Richardson, challenged Adams qualification under the “home rule” maps.
Since Hill’s ruling, Seger has not indicated whether she may appeal. East Cobb News has left a message seeking comment.
Richardson, who lost in a U.S. Congress primary in May, also has not spoken publicly about the matter since Hill’s ruling.
The special-called meeting Thursday takes place at 1:30 p.m. in the 3rd floor conference room of the Commissioners’ Conference Room, Cobb County Building, 100 Cherokee Street, Marietta.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Cobb jail inmate from East Cobb dies due to health reasons
The Cobb Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday that an inmate who has been hospitalized routinely with health issues since his arrest in December has died in custody.
Brian Winnie, 62, died Monday afternoon at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital after being taken there last Tuesday, according to the sheriff’s office, which didn’t specify a cause of death.
A release said that Winnie, who was charged with felony theft, cited medical records that “indicated he was facing a recurring, serious health challenge. While in custody, he was routinely transported to the hospital for treatment.”
A booking report showed that Winnie lived at an address off Post Oak Tritt Road.
According to an arrest warrant, Winnie was alleged to have stolen a Mercedes sedan on Nov. 19, 2023, belonging to another individual at that address.
A sheriff’s office booking report indicated Winnie was taken into custody at the Cobb Adult Detention Center on Dec. 19 and was being held on a $6,720 bond.
Court records indicate Winnie was indicted in February by a Cobb Superior Court jury on one count of felony theft by taking, but no other court dates had been scheduled at the time of his death.
“His family was aware of his condition and made medical decisions on his behalf,” the Cobb Sheriff’s Office said in the release.
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Christi Vandaveer McCarey, a parent volunteer with the Walton High School Cheer Program, sends along the photos and details of a volunteer project last Tuesday on behalf of The Sandwich Project.
The Atlanta-area non-profit collects sandwiches every week to distribute to the homeless and food insecure, and partners with community organizations to put the meals together.
During the final week of their summer vacation, the Walton cheerleaders gathered in the school cafeteria and made 729 sandwiches.
“Besides a great team bonding experience they learned how these sandwiches will directly impact our local community by filling the gap and providing sandwiches to those around us that are food insecure this summer,” McCarey says.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The following East Cobb residential real estate sales were compiled from agency reports and Cobb County property records. They include the street address, subdivision name, high school attendance zone and sales price:
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Mountain View Elementary School students turned in solid Milestones scores in 2023-24.
With dozens of data points, the Georgia Milestones testing results for the 2023-24 academic year present a variety of perspectives on how students at all grade levels performed.
The Georgia Department of Education on Thursday released the comprehensive assessments, which didn’t differ all that much from last year for the 36 public schools in East Cobb.
Students at schools with a pattern of high performance results continued to test well in the End of Grade (elementary and middle) and End of Course (high school) metrics.
Others that have had struggling figures over the years also continued to lag, although there was some progress in spots.
A total of 13 different assessments are measured at the end of each semester, as well as the end of the school year.
Georgia Milestones test students in grades 3-8 in English Language Arts and math, in grades 5-8 in those subjects plus science, and those areas plus social studies in grade 8. High school students are tested in American Literature, algebra, biology and U.S. history.
Students are categorized in one of four levels, based on those test scores: Level 1 is Beginning Learner, Level 2 is a Developing Learner, Level 3 is a Proficient Learner and Level 4 is Distinguished Learner.
The Georgia DOE said in a release that math scores will be released in the fall, after new math standards were implemented during the 2023-24 school year.
Across the state, ELA, reading and science scores were up modestly, according to a release. More:
“The percentage of students achieving the Proficient Learner level or above increased or held steady on 10 of 13 End of Grade (EOG) and End of Course (EOC) assessments.”
Those are among metrics that we’re highlighting in the tables below from East Cobb schools. Another key indicator that’s getting extra emphasis since COVID-19 are third-grade reading scores.
The Cobb County School District said in a release Thursday that 78.2 percent of students tested at all grade levels and across all subjects surpassed their peers in other metro Atlanta school districts.
The district said reading levels “increased substantially” in third, fifth, sixth and eighth grades, while English Language Arts grades were also up modestly from 2023.
Cobb high school students outperformed the state average in U.S. History testing by 17 percent, and in biology by 13.9 percent.
What follows is a sampling of only a few metrics lines that comprise Milestones. Another link to the full dashboard can be found here, and where you can download spreadsheets and other data by school, school district and the state.
Cobb Youth Leadership (CYL), a development program for high school juniors and sponsored by the Leadership Cobb Alumni Association and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, has announced the members of its 2024-2025 class.
A total of 54 students have been selected, including the following from high schools in East Cobb:
Amol Balakrishnan, Lassiter High School
Arvind Balakrishnan, Wheeler High School
Anya Dhir, Walton High School
Lila Fraley, Wheeler High School
Marie Hable, Wheeler High School
Sophie Hortman, Lassiter High School
Thomas Linton, Pope High School
Madison Lockhart, Pope High School
Sameel Mistri, Wheeler High School
Brody Tanner, Johnson Ferry Christian Adcemy
Leo Waldron, Walton High School
Orientation begins on Monday, followed by a fall retreat in August and monthly program activities until graduation in April, 2025.
Here’s more from the Cobb Chamber of Commerce, which oversees CYL, about the program:
Created in 1989, the program provides students a unique opportunity to learn about their community, develop leadership skills, as well as meet and interact with students from other high schools. Students attending public or private high schools or home-school students must complete and submit an application for CYL in the spring of their sophomore year. Students participate in the program during their junior year of high school.
Allan Bishop, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, and Julie Peck, Hub International, will be Co-Chairs for the 2024-2025 program year. Tripp Boyer, Boyer Ramey Wealth Management, and Luci Hogue, Scotland Wright Associates, will be the Vice Co-Chairs for the 2024-2025 program year. The 2024-2025 class theme is “Connected in Leadership.”
Thank you to Yearlong Presenting Sponsor, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, and Youth Champion Sponsor, Six Flags Over Georgia.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up and you’re good to go!
The Cobb County School District’s 2024-25 academic year begins on Thursday, and both the district and Cobb County government have been rounding up information related to bus transportation.
Foremost among those reminders is a new Georgia law that went into effect July 1 that makes it a “high and aggravated misdemeanor” to pass a stopped school bus.
The minimum fine is $1,000 and the maximum penalty is up to 12 months in jail.
“When the violation is caught by school bus-mounted cameras it is punishable by a civil fine of not less than $1,000,” according to information released this week by Cobb County government.
Some other tips to remember as buses will be back out on the roads:
Yellow flashing lights mean the school bus is slowing down and about to stop.
Red flashing lights and the extended stop arm mean children are boarding or exiting the bus. Motorists must come to a complete stop a safe distance from the bus. They must wait until the red lights stop flashing, the stop arm is retracted, and the bus starts moving again before they return to their drive.
Children alongside the road might dart into traffic without looking. Motorists are responsible for watching out for them and preparing for an emergency stop.
Motorists should drive more slowly if they see children beside the road or a bus nearby.
Cobb government also has provided links to new videos showing motorists how to stop for buses, depending on the type of road:
The Cobb school district has more specific information about finding bus routes, downloading its “Here Comes the Bus” mobile app and other transportation details to follow throughout the school year.
One other handy tip for the start of the school year: Students are allowed to bring water bottles on the buses in August and September, in containers with a screw-on lid.
For more information contact the Cobb school district’s transportation department at 678-594-8000.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up and you’re good to go!
Alicia Adams speaking at a recent Cobb Board of Commissioners meeting.
New elections to fill two seats on the Cobb Board of Commissioners were ordered on Thursday by a Cobb Superior Court judge, who threw out recent primary results in deciding a long-standing electoral map dispute.
Judge Kellie Hill said in her ruling that the May 21 primaries as well as a June runoff for one of the seats were conducted using electoral maps that violate the Georgia Constitution.
She said the commission’s Democratic majority was not authorized to approve “home rule” maps in 2022 that were used by the Cobb Board of Elections and Registration this year because reapportionment is a function of the Georgia legislature.
Hill said that special primaries and special elections for seats in District 2—which had included some of East Cobb—and District 4 in South Cobb will be necessary following the November elections, using maps approved by the General Assembly in 2022.
She waited until after the Georgia Supreme Court threw out a separate lawsuit on a technicality in May to hear a different complaint against the Cobb elections board.
In her decision Thursday, Hill ruled on an appeal by a Republican candidate, Alicia Adams, who had been disqualified for the District 2 race under the home rule maps.
Adams lives within those boundaries under the legislative maps, but East Cobb resident Mindy Seger, a Democratic activist and ally of current District 2 Cobb Commissioner Jerica Richardson, challenged her qualification under the home rule maps.
The elections board ruled Adams didn’t qualify under the home rule maps.
Hill referenced a ruling in January by Cobb Superior Court Judge Ann Harris in another case that the home rule maps were unconstitutional.
“The Court, having ruled the Home Rule Map unconstitutional in the companion appeal finds the Plaintiff has a clear legal right to seek qualification for the Cobb County Commission, Post 2, using the Legislative Map, if qualified, to run for a special primary in that post,” Hill states in the ruling.
“The Court finds that the Plantiff is entitled to a writ of mandamus requiring the Cobb BOER to cease using the Home Rule Map for future elections and qualification purposes” as well as requiring the special elections.
The Cobb elections board said in a statement Friday that it would schedule those elections “as soon as practicable afterwards” but didn’t indicate when that might be.
The Cobb “home rule” maps included some of East Cobb in District 2 (in pink) in an election that was on the May primary ballot.
Most voters in East Cobb who cast ballots in the District 2 primary and runoff will not be able to do so in the special elections because the legislative-approved maps are now in force.
Democrat Jaha Howard, a former member of the Cobb Board of Education, won a Democratic runoff in District 2. The only Republican on the primary ballot was Pamela Reardon of East Cobb.
But Reardon won’t be able to run in the special election because she lives in District 3 under the legislative maps.
The legislative maps have most of East Cobb in District 3, represented by Republican JoAnn Birrell. District 2 includes most of the Cumberland-Smyrna-Vinings area, as well as the I-75 corridor north to Marietta and the Town Center area.
The commission Democrats decided to test the home rule provision after Cobb Republican legislators ignored maps drawn up by the Democrat-led county legislative delegation that would have kept Jerica Richardson, one of those Democrats, in her seat.
The legislative maps drew Richardson out of her home in East Cobb, and commissioners voted 3-2 along partisan lines in October 2022 to follow the delegation maps.
Cobb commission maps passed by the Georgia legislature include most of East Cobb in District 3 (gold).
In a statement issued Friday, the Cobb elections board said that Hill’s order “confirmed the Board of Elections’ long stated position that it did not have authority to declare the Home Rule Map resolution unconstitutional of its own accord.”
With the legal issues pending, Richardson ran for Congress in May, but lost in the Democratic primary to U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath in the 6th District.
Howard was one of five Democrats running in the primary to succeed Richardson, along with former State Rep. Erick Allen, who drew up what became known as the home rule maps.
In District 4, current first-term Democratic commissioner Monique Sheffield won the May primary, and was facing no Republican opposition in November.
But she’ll have to qualify and run again in the new special primary and election for that seat.
Those are the only two district seats up this year. The race for Cobb Commission Chair is unaffected, since it’s countywide. Democratic Chairwoman Lisa Cupid is seeking a second term against Republican Kay Morgan in November.
The terms of the commission’s two Republicans, Birrell and Keli Gambrill—an initial plaintiff in the lawsuit thrown out by the Georgia Supreme Court—run through 2026.
Cupid said in a statement on Friday that “I respect the judge’s ruling and we are assessing how to move forward.”
Cobb government spokesman Ross Cavitt told East Cobb News later Friday in response to a question if the county would appeal by saying that “there has been no discussion at this point about any further legal action.”
It remains unclear what would happen when the District 2 and District 4 terms expire at the end of the year, since elections are unlikely to be called before then.
And it’s also uncertain if Richardson will have to step down before her term expires at the end of the year, since district commissioners must reside within those boundaries.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The outcome was as predictable as the calls to do otherwise.
After hearing homeowners begging for tax relief for several hours, the Cobb Board of Commissioners voted along party lines Tuesday night to adopt a fiscal year 2025 budget and millage rate that includes substantial spending increases.
They held the general fund, fire fund and other millage rates from the present fiscal year 2024 budget.
But the new $1.3 billion budget means property owners will still be paying more in taxes due to rising assessments.
At two public hearings Tuesday night—one for the millage rates and the other for the budget proposal—citizens pleaded with commissioners to “roll back” the property tax rates.
The new budget includes a 9 percent increase in spending, and $41.3 million more in general fund increases along, mostly to pay for public safety salaries and benefits.
Overall spending across all funds is $63.7 million.
The three Democrats who make up the majority voted in favor, while the two Republicans voted against.
But there was little discussion before those votes were cast.
Some citizens said their assessments have gone up by much more, exceeding 30 percent in some cases, and causing an undue burden with inflation.
As in the two previous hearings, Tuesday’s hearing included pleas from citizens to find ways to cut spending.
“Stop DeKalbing us. Stop Fultonizing us,” said Alicia Adams, a Republican who’s challenging her removal as a commission candidate in a continuing legal dispute over electoral maps. “We’re Cobb County.
“Our money isn’t your money. Live by a budget. Our family does, so you need to too.”
Cobb resident Hugh Norris noted earlier during the hearing that the Austell City Council rejected a budget that included a 106 percent property tax increase, with only the mayor left to defend it.
“The constituents showed up, and apparently, the city of Austell, city council members remembered that they’re supposed to represent their constituents. . . . So far every single speaker has been against this, so we shall see where you all shake out.”
Because the millage rate didn’t roll back to fiscal year 2024 spending, the state considers that a tax increase, and the county had to advertise and hold three public hearings.
The general fund millage rate of 8.46 would have to be rolled back to 7.761 mills to meet 2024 spending, and the fire fund of 2.99 would have to be rolled back to 2.8 mills.
GOP commissioner Keli Gambrill referenced voter frustrations going back to 2018, when a previous board voted to increase the millage rate.
She said at the time, the county didn’t have much in funding reserves, “we are not in that position today.
“That is where the people are upset not many of them can have money in the bank earning the interest like the county is. This is where some of the frustration is. . . . We’re collecting more money than we should.”
Applause broke out when she said that, but Gambrill’s Democratic colleagues were unswayed.
Cobb chief financial officer Bill Volckmann presented a list of budget items passed last year that represent $16.5 million this year, and are long-term obligations.
Chairwoman Lisa Cupid read them aloud, and later extended her remarks to claim that the increases are needed to catch up with years of underfunding operations, and to pay for public safety overtime due to staffing shortages.
County department heads requested 380 new positions, but the FY 2025 budget includes only five.
Cupid said “I personally don’t care for” a higher tax bill, but that Cobb operates at a lower millage rate than most local governments in metro Atlanta.
“The significant wins” of Cobb government, Cupid added, are done largely on the backs of county employees.
“They try their best to serve you, with the limited dollars they have. . . Cobb County is known for providing stellar service, and we’d love to do it for free. But you and I both know it doesn’t operate like that.”
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The following East Cobb residential real estate sales were compiled from agency reports and Cobb County property records. They include the street address, subdivision name, high school attendance zone and sales price:
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
East Cobb resident Jan Barton holds up a sign at a public hearing Wednesday for the proposed Cobb fiscal year 2025 budget.
Cobb commissioners are scheduled to adopt the fiscal year 2025 budget for Cobb County government as well as the 2024 millage rate on Tuesday.
The budget proposal that was presented earlier this month calls for $1.27 billion in spending, $41.3 million increase in the general fund from the current fiscal year 2024 budget, and holding the line on the general fund millage rate at 8.46 mills.
That constitutes a tax increase under state law, since there is no proposed “rollback” millage rate to match current spending levels.
Commissioners have held two of three required public hearings on the budget, with the final hearing set for Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the board room of the county office building at 100 Cherokee St., Marietta.
The property tax revenues in the proposed budget are a 9 percent increase from fiscal year 2024.
A number of citizens have asked commissioners to reduce the millage rate due to rising property tax assessments.
On Wednesday during a special-called public hearing on the budget, they held up graphics showing how the costs of daily living have gone up for citizens.
“Lower the millage, otherwise it is a nine percent increase,” said East Cobb resident Jan Barton.
“The only thing down is weekly average earnings. Your decisions are putting people out of their homes.”
Maria Cooper, who said she’s on a fixed income, rattled off household costs that have gone up for her and asked for the millage rate to be rolled back. “I don’t want to be pushed out of Cobb County,” she said.
The overall proposed budget includes $63.7 million in new spending, with an additional $14.7 million for the fire fund, with a proposed millage rate to remain the same at 2.99 mills.
Only five new positions would be created in the FY 2025 budget, whittled down from 382 requests for new jobs from department heads.
Also in the proposed budget is a reduction in the amount of Cobb Water System revenues to the general fund, from six percent to five percent.
The Cobb finance department has created a presentation (click here ) breaking down how property taxes are divided, what general fund revenues pay for, and “how the county will spend this year’s budget growth.”
During the Wednesday hearings, resident Sue Marshall held up a copy of the budget brochure and said the county could have done a better job of informing the public of the meeting.
A Cobb resident since 1977, she said previous commissions held town halls and actively asked for public feedback.
“But you’re not doing that,” she said. “You want to raise taxes and keep up with the Joneses and be more like DeKalb and the city of Atlanta.”
Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid responded to some of the commenters.
“It’s very difficult for all of us, for my family, to know how much we’re paying,” she said. “A lot of this is being driven by fair-market [home] values. We are not building houses to the rate of demand.”
Cupid said commissioners have a duty to be stewards in maintaining basic county operations. Two-thirds of the additional revenues for FY 2025 will be paying for public safety salaries and benefits.
“You said we should value public safety and we do,” she said. “If this budget does not pass we won’t be able to sustain the raises that we’ve recently provided for those who are sworn officers.”
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The Cobb Board of Education voted Thursday night to hold the property tax millage rate for schools added reserve funds to the adopted fiscal year 2025 budget.
Despite public speakers asking for a rollback, the board voted 6-0 without discussion—with vice chairman David Banks of East Cobb voted present—to maintain a tax rate of 18.7 mills.
The motion included a provision to add $1.258 million to the previously adopted fiscal year 2025 budget of $1.8 billion due to less-than-anticipated growth in the 2024 Cobb tax digest.
During a work session Thursday, Brad Johnson, the chief financial officer for the Cobb County School District, asked board members for the additional funding to reach a balanced budget.
The new budget, which went into effect July 1, is up 8.73 percent increase from fiscal year 2024 (nearly $55 million) and includes across-the-board staff pay raises.
Johnson said the initial estimate for tax digest growth from the Cobb Tax Assessor’s Office was 7.56 percent higher than 2023, but the final estimate turned out to be 7.32 million.
The $1.258 million, taken from the general fund balance, represents the difference in those two figures.
He and Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said during the work session the district is preparing for the effects of a possible recession in the coming months, and using fund balance may be necessary.
It’s why Ragsdale last week asked the board to cancel a planned $50 million special-events facility that would have been paid for in part with fund balance dollars.
“We have to make sure we have the fund balance to last through a recession,” Ragsdale said, recounting how those monies were used during the recession in 2008-9.
Even then, there were staffing cuts and hiring and salary freezes he said he didn’t want to repeat should there be another recession.
District officials said cutting back the millage rate would lead to layoffs in what they have termed an “employee-centric” budget.
At the final tax digest hearing before Thursday night’s vote, four citizens spoke in favor of rolling back the millage rate to meet fiscal year 2024 revenues, a “rollback rate” of 17.199 mills.
Eliza Consliglio, the parent of a son in the Cobb school district, was among them.
She said her property tax assessments and those of others she knows are up 25-30 percent over last year.
“I know the schools need money,” she said, “but there are people who are hurting more than we are.”
Patricia Hay agreed.
“People are hurting, the economy is bad, and prices are up,” she said. “You know all this. I’m just asking to do the right thing.”
In 2024, the board reduced the millage rate to 18.7 mills, after the Cobb school district levied a millage rate of 18.9 mills from 2007-23.
That was done to offset rising assessments. Banks, who is retiring from office at the end of 2024, voted present last year, saying he wanted a larger millage rate reduction.
He didn’t explain his reason for voting present on Thursday.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up and you’re good to go!
Irene Barton, center, the 2023 East Cobb Area Council Citizen of the Year, with Cobb Chamber of Commerce leadership.
Submitted information:
The Cobb Chamber is now accepting nominations for the 2024 Citizen of the Year Awards. The Citizen of the Year Awards, created by Cobb County civic clubs and co-sponsored by the Cobb Chamber Area Councils and Cobb County business associations, have annually been presented to extraordinary individuals for the work they have done in Cobb County.
Awards are given to deserving individuals based on nine local area nominations: Acworth, Austell, Cumberland, East Cobb, Kennesaw, Mableton, Marietta, Powder Springs, Smyrna, Town Center, and West Cobb. Given to honor an individual whose impact through the years will be recognized and regarded with pride throughout the area as a role model, these outstanding citizens are chosen for their definable, exceptional deeds, with which he or she has made their community a better place to live.
Nominations are now open through Friday, August 30 at https://tinyurl.com/z5p6rr2d. Thank you Presenting Sponsor, Capital City Bank. For more information on the Citizen of the Year Awards, contact Katie Guice at 770-859-2334 or kguice@cobbchamber.org.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
We accept metal, electronics, appliances, glass, and paper shredding while you watch!! DONATION $15 per car + disposal fees. Metal items are FREE w/donation (excluding large items). A complete list of fees + more details can be found on our website: http://www.popeband.com/recycle.html
Onsite Payment can be made in cash, credit card, or check payable to PBPA.
Pick-Up services may be offered, WITH ADVANCE RESERVATION, within a 5-mile radius of Pope HS, based on truck and volunteer availability. (Sorry, for your security – NO document pick-ups)!
**RESERVATION IS REQUIRED** for pick up and payment must be made in full by cash or check (no credit cards) at time of pick up. These slots are very limited. To make a reservation for residential or business pick up, please visit our website at http://www.popeband.com/recycle.html
Business Pick-Up Fee: $100 plus any TV, monitor, laptop, large item or paint charges.
Residential Pick-Up Fee. $50 plus any TV, monitor, laptop, large item or paint charges.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up and you’re good to go!
Get ready for an unforgettable day of fun, fellowship, and celebration at East Cobb United Methodist Church! We’re excited to announce our Fall Kickoff event on Sunday, August 11, immediately following worship at 12:30 PM. This year’s theme is the East Cobb UMC Olympics, and we have a fantastic lineup of activities planned for everyone to enjoy.
Test your skills and compete in a variety of fun and engaging games designed for all ages and abilities. Mark your calendars, register your family, and get ready for a day full of fun, fellowship, and celebration at the East Cobb UMC Fall Kickoff. We can’t wait to see you there!
East Cobb United Methodist Church, 2325 Roswell Rd, Marietta, GA 30062
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
