This shouldn’t come as a surprise: Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott is opposed to raising the millage rate to balance the fiscal year 2018 Cobb County budget.
With commissioners scheduled to adopt a budget next Thursday, Ott sent out a lengthy message right before the Labor Day holiday weekend explaining why he would not support a rise in the property tax millage rate to cover an estimated $21 million shortfall.
Commission chairman Mike Boyce has proposed an $890 million spending package (PDF here) that includes using contingency funding to close the entire deficit gap.
In July, Ott helped foil Boyce’s plan to raise the millage rate to fully fund the $40 million 2008 Cobb Parks referendum (East Cobb News coverage here).
The proposed FY 2018 budget would be balanced by using reserve funding from the following sources:
- $10.4 million from the reserve for a county employees pay and classification implementation study;
- $5.7 million from the county Title Ad Valorem Tax Reserve;
- $5.3 million from the county economic development contingency.
Ott, who’s been vigorously opposed to property tax increases in general, said he can’t support raising the millage rate now, for a full fiscal-year budget, with contingency money available. In his weekly e-mail newsletter that came out on Friday, he said:
“I believe it is wrong to raise the millage rate before the BOC uses the money from these funds to pay-down the deficit. Together, at their height, these funds totaled approximately $22 million being held in reserve on top of the county’s ‘normal’ reserve funds.”
He also hinted at this position at an Aug. 17 town hall meeting at the East Cobb Library, just days after the budget was revealed, telling constituents “it’s your money.”
In his Friday e-mail, Ott urged finding ways to reduce expenses in some county services, including two familiar targets of his, the annual transfer of Cobb water system revenues to the general fund, and transit subsidies:
“I don’t believe the answer to addressing this $21 million deficit is simply an increase in the millage rate. A complete review of the budget and expenses should be done to identify and eliminate wasteful spending. Two areas that I believe illustrate inefficiencies in the budget are the need to transfer $20 million per year from the Water System to the general fund and the roughly $17 million a year subsidy of the county transit system. CobbLinc provides invaluable service to many county residents. However, many buses travel the routes virtually, if not completely, empty.”
Ott’s also been in a budget fight on another front, with fellow East Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell, who is proposing to close the East Cobb Library, citing duplication of services.
After hearing from upset East Cobb residents opposed to shuttering the second-busiest branch in the Cobb library system, Birrell defended her proposal at an Aug. 22 public hearing on the budget. She cited a recent report calling for more police officer hires in Cobb (Birrell has long wanted to create a new police precinct in Northeast Cobb) and said she wants to be good steward of taxpayer money.
At his town hall, Ott said he is considering moving some services at the East Cobb Government Service Center to the East Cobb Library and possibly closing an “underperforming” library elsewhere in his district, but he hasn’t elaborated.
Here’s his full statement from Friday; he said he’ll be detailing more suggestions on budget cuts.
