Boyce continues Cobb tax increase push as commissioners begin public hearings

In his final town hall meeting, Mike Boyce told East Cobb citizens Monday night that his proposed Cobb tax increase of 1.7 mills is necessary because it “keeps everything open that’s open now” and would restore some popular and necessary services to their pre-recession levels.

In a packed black box studio at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center, the Cobb commission chairman received a mixed response for his call to return Cobb to “the golden days” of a stable millage rate before the recession and provide the level of services worthy of what he has called a “five-star county.”

He wants to use the 1.7 mills not only to cover a projected $30 million budget deficit for fiscal year 2019, but to add another $20 million for resumption of services that have been affected by budget cuts for several years.

“What is it that you want pay for, what you used to have and that you want again?” he asked the crowd, drawing some applause.

The Cobb Board of Commissioners will hold the first of three required public hearings on the tax increase proposal Tuesday at 9 a.m. It’s on the second floor of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.

Monday’s meeting was the seventh budget town hall Boyce has held around the county over the last month, and like the others he asked citizens to let their commissioners know their budget priorities.

His proposed $454 million FY 2019 budget is a 12 percent increase over the current $405 million budget, and would raise the general fund millage rate from 6.76 to 8.46 mills.

Boyce wants to spend an additional $15 million for public safety, including the hiring of 23 police officers and providing officers with body cameras.

He would expand library hours to Sunday at select locations and restore hours to what they were before the recession.

He also wants to restore maintenance positions in Cobb DOT, including the hiring of mowers for rights-of-way on county roads. Currently those are positions that are contracted out for six months, but bringing them under county auspices would allow for year-round work.

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In the run-up to the town halls, staff department head lists of potential cuts for commissioners to consider were made public, and quickly galvanized supporters of the county library and parks systems.

Those items included Fullers Park, the home of East Side Baseball, and the Fullers Recreation Center, where East Marietta Basketball is based.

Richard Benson, a coach, volunteer and board member of East Side Baseball, brought several members of the East Side Chargers team with him, and wearing their same jersey, told Boyce that “I can’t fathom the thought that they might not have a place to play baseball.”

Boyce said the list was only a “working product,” and that “I know of no commissioner who wanted to close a park at anytime.”

Not only are current parks facilities all preserved in Boyce’s budget, he told the audience, to applause, that “we don’t have enough parks.”

Also in attendance, wearing light green shirts, were members of the Cobb Master Gardeners, who work closely with the UGA Cobb Extension Service, which had been initially targeted for possible closure but is funded in Boyce’s budget proposal.

Tax increase opponents also were out in force, and some demanded that Boyce point to spending cuts to help alleviate the deficit. Only one slide presented savings thus far, a combined $1.7 million.

Boyce said his budget staff is continuing to do that. “We’re not done finding efficiencies,” he said.

Commissioner Bob Ott of East Cobb, who was not at Monday’s town hall in his District 2, has said he wants to see significant budget cuts before he would agree to any kind of tax increase.

He did attend a public meeting held Friday by opponents, including Debbie Fisher and Jan Barton of East Cobb. They handed out flyers on Monday from the Georgia Taxpayers Association, a petition to “cut wasteful spending and property taxes.”

Fisher inquired about what she claimed was $106 million in excess funding from the 2005 and 2011 Cobb SPLOSTs, but Boyce told her “there’s nothing left.” It got a little heated when she asked why she couldn’t find any related documents online. Boyce said she was welcome to come to county offices anytime.

In a post-town hall letter, Barton, who previously tried to raise the same point with Boyce but was passed over, wrote the following:

“We felt that citizens with dissenting questions/opinions against the tax hike were not allowed to ask questions in Town Halls and wanted to give everyone a forum where the other side of the story could be explained. A Town Hall is supposed to be for all citizens/taxpayers.”

After the town hall, Benson said he felt better about what he heard from Boyce about the parks, and that he’s been communicating with commissioners about keeping them open.

East Cobb resident Rachel Slomovitz, who created the Save Cobb Libraries group and started a petition to raise taxes that she said has received more than 2,100 signatures, said after the town hall that “there’s still so much uncertainty in the air.”

While she supports Boyce’s budget and commissioner Lisa Cupid’s call for restoring services, she’s still “strongly encouraging” the three other commissioners as well.

“We’re asking for books and baseball,” she said, pointing toward the East Side Chargers players. “The basics.”

Commissioners will hold public hearings on July 17 and 25, with budget adoption also scheduled for July 25.

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