Less than a week before a new fiscal year county budget is to be adopted, Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid took her message about taxes, spending and other issues to an East Cobb audience that was largely skeptical of many of her priorities.
A town hall Wednesday at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center dubbed “All In Cobb” was the last of four such meetings she’s held in each of the Cobb commission districts.
With East Cobb-area commissioners Jerica Richardson and JoAnn Birrell in attendance, Cupid said during the nearly two-hour event that the concerns she heard have been similar around the county over the last month.
Her proposed fiscal year budget of $1.4 billion holds the general fund property tax rate at 8.46 mills, but due to rising assessments many Cobb homeowners will be paying substantially higher taxes.
Cupid defended a proposal to add nearly 150 new county positions and raised the minimum wage for county employees to $17 an hour due to chronic staff shortages in many departments, including road maintenance, stormwater management and public safety.
She said while they don’t come close to addressing all those needs, with this budget “we’re going to try to fix” what she said have been long-standing concerns.
“What you’re getting from your government are beautiful buildings like this one,” she said. “I think Cobb County can do better” to provide services for a county of nearly 800,000.
“I keep hearing not to spend” on certain priorities, she said, “but you still want stellar services. It’s not working right now.”
Throughout the evening, she tried to tie affordable housing to budget and spending issues, because “people who work here should be able to afford to live here.”
She noted that the average price of newly built homes in Cobb averages around $300,000. A county employee making her proposed minimum wage of $17 an hour would earn only $33,000 in gross pay, not nearly enough to afford even that.
But a woman in the audience who owns rental housing said that some of her tenants have been forced to leave because they couldn’t afford to pay higher rents. She said she reluctantly raised them because of skyrocketing assessments.
“That’s too much taxes,” she said, pointing out that such renters “are the people who need” affordable housing options.
“It’s a challenge and I recognize it,” Cupid said.
Another resident said when she travels to West Cobb, she sees new sidewalks and pocket parks and “I feel like East Cobb has become the golden goose.”
Cupid said it’s a comment she hears wherever she goes in the county.
East Cobb resident Craig Harfoot said the Georgia legislature needs to look at how property taxes are reassessed.
“You’re pricing all the poor people out of their homes,” he said.
But Cupid rebuffed calls in the audience to “roll back” the millage rate in light of the proposed budget being nearly $100 million more than the current fiscal year.
“We’re trying to address things that we haven’t addressed for years,” she said. “I’m keeping the millage rate but we’re not funding” for the level of service she hears citizens demanding.
Making repeated references to Rumpelstiltskin—about turning straw into gold—Cupid said that “rolling it back won’t help that.
“There is this misperception about how robustly resourced the county is.”
Others were cool to government-driven ideas for resolving affordable housing issues.
When a resident challenged her about letting the market dictate housing costs, Cupid—who holds engineering and law degrees—said “there’s a place for government and there’s a place for the market. They co-exist.”
Some shouted “noooooo!” at those remarks.
Some audience members were rankled about a slide Cupid presented about diversity, saying it’s not just about race, but also geography and income levels, among other factors.
A woman said “I don’t treat anybody differently” to some cheering.
East Cobb resident Leroy Emkin, a frequent commenter at commissioners’ public address, was critical of a proposal in the budget for the creation of a diversity, equity and inclusion officer position.
“What the hell do we need a director for that kind of office?” he said to considerable applause.
County manager Jackie McMorris corrected his assertion that it would cost $400,000, saying that the $150,000 to be earmarked for that post—suggested by Cupid’s predecessor, the late Mike Boyce—comes from federal COVID-19 stimulus funds and is just one job, with no staff.
McMorris acknowledged “a philosophical difference in what we value,” including the acceptance of American Rescue Plan Act funds altogether.
After the town hall, Birrell said she was hoping for more discussion on the budget.
“There are some things I like and some things I don’t like,” said Birrell, who is up for re-election in November in a newly redrawn district that includes most of East Cobb.
She didn’t offer any particulars, but Birrell and fellow Republican commissioner Keli Gambrill have expressed concerns about future budget impacts should the $17 an hour minimum wage be adopted.
“Some things are critical, that we need,” Birrell said. “But I am concerned about this budget being sustainable,” especially when many citizens are reeling from higher tax assessments and inflation.
Commissioners will hold a final public hearing on the proposed budget and millage rate next Tuesday night before voting on adoption then.
Related:
- Cobb officials announce proposed tax increase, millage rate
- Proposed Cobb FY 2023 budget would create 147 new positions
- Cupid holding ‘All-In Cobb’ town halls in June and July
- Lower Roswell Road project questioned as construction nears
- Cobb tax digest projected to grow by 10.49 percent in 2022
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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!
