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.”
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!
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.”
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 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!
From the office of Cobb Commissioner Jerica Richardson:
I am pleased to invite you to Commissioner Richardson’s special Community Chat on the FY25 Budget, which is tomorrow, July 18 at 6:30pm.
The event will kick off with an in-person “Taxpayer Clinic” from 6:00 – 6:30 p.m. at Sewell Mill Library [2051 Lower Roswell Road] in the Community Room. Commissioner Richardson will offer to individually review your tax bill and answer any questions you may have about a line item. Please bring a copy of your 2024 property tax bill with you if you plan to attend the clinic.
Then, from 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., Commissioner Richardson will host a virtual Community Chat to focus on the FY25 Budget. We strongly encourage you to attend this informative event to gain a deeper understanding of the budget and share your thoughts/ideas.
Please note that the Community Chat will be held virtually via Zoom. You must register in advance to receive the Zoom meeting link.
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!
KIDS CARE and the Cobb County Police Department are excited to announce the 4th annual Backpack and School Supply Drive. The program collects new backpacks and school supplies for Cobb county students in need. Donations will be accepted through July 20.
Donation drop-off locations/times:
All 5 Cobb County police precincts and Police Headquarters, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. daily through July 20.
Cobb Civic Center from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. Saturday, July 20 at an event co-hosted by Keep Cobb Beautiful, at 548 South Marietta Parkway SE, Marietta.
Over the last three years, the organization donated 1,374 new backpacks with school supplies. Donations can also be made on the KIDS CARE website.
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 Board of Education will discuss some academic subjects on Thursday as part of a long day and night of public meetings.
According to an agenda item, the board will meet for a retreat Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. to receive presentations on literacy, dyslexia and prisms math.
The agenda also calls for a board policy process update, if time allows, but the agenda item wasn’t more specific.
That meeting takes place in the board room of the Cobb County School District’s central office (514 Glover St., Marietta).
The retreat will be followed by a work session at 2:30, an executive session and a final public hearing on the millage rate for the fiscal year 2025 budget.
That public hearing starts at 6:30, and a voting session with millage rate adoption scheduled for 7 p.m. (agenda for all public meetings here).
The board in May adopted a fiscal year 2025 budget of $1.8 billion, but must adopt a millage rate after the Cobb Tax Digest is revealed in July.
An agenda item notes that the board will be asked to “adjust” the adopted budget figure because the final tax digest was less than anticipated.
“Specifically, the total revenue is decreasing and budgeted expenditures are unchanged,” the agenda item states. “The difference will be funded from the district’s fund balance.”
That budget was based on a proposed property tax rate of 18.7 mills, the same as last year. But because the budget is an 8.73 percent increase from fiscal year 2024, that constitutes a tax increase under state law, and the board is required to hold public hearings.
Only two speakers turned out for last week’s public hearings, with one of them noting that the Republican board members are not paying school taxes. They are eligible for the senior tax exemption from Cobb school taxes.
The rollback millage rate to match FY 2024 spending would be 17.199 mills.
The work session agenda includes a review of a report by Cognia, the school district’s accrediting agency, but an agenda item didn’t disclose any details.
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!
There’s been another delay in Whataburger’s plans to open a restaurant in East Cobb.
The Texas-based chain asked for another continuance from the Cobb Board of Commissioners Tuesday as they iron out plans to revise a site plan on what had been O’Charley’s restaurant at Sandy Plains and Shallowford roads.
Cobb Zoning Division manager John Pederson said at the start of Tuesday’s zoning hearing that the applicant wants a delay to the Aug. 20 hearing for work on architectural landscaping, and the board approved that request 4-0.
Chairwoman Lisa Cupid was absent.
It’s the third time the request has been delayed. Whataburger wants to replace the existing structure with a new 7,000-square-foot building with drive-through space and parking.
Stipulations restricted uses for fast food and drive-through service, and an initial review of the application concluded additional parking would be needed.
Later in the hearing commissioners voted to approve a special land-use plan for St. Andrew United Methodist Church to hold a farmer’s market every Saturday on its property on Canton Road at Blackwell Circle.
The vote was 4-0 for the Blackwell Farmer Market, which is open Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. through Sept. 28. It features local vendors selling produce, meats, breads, baked goods and other artisanal food items in a portion of the parking lot at the church
The permit is for 24 months, and comes after the Cobb Planning Commission recommended approval.
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!
Reader Jada sends along a photo of a neighborhood pooch at a new Little Free Library in Kings Cove.
It’s called Bennett’s Books, and it’s located at 4530 Kings Lake Drive (see map below), and it’s accessible via Woodlawn Drive.
According to the Little Free Library mapping website, there are roughly 20 in the East Cobb area, located primarily in shopping centers, at schools, and in neighborhoods and parks.
The Little Free Library Association is a non-profit founded in 2009 that fosters community reading initiatives with its ethos: “Share A Book. Take A Book.” More from its mission statement:
“We believe all people are empowered when the opportunity to discover a personally relevant book to read is not limited by time, space, or privilege.”
It has more than 175,000 registered libraries nationwide and in more than 100 countries, and claims to have to have distributed more than 400 million books.
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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!
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) announced over 800 additional winners of National Merit Scholarships financed by colleges and universities. These Merit Scholar designees join more than 2,900 other college-sponsored award recipients who were announced in June.
Officials of each sponsor college selected their scholarship winners from among the Finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program who will attend their institution. College-sponsored awards provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the institution financing the scholarship.
This year, 149 colleges and universities are sponsoring approximately 3,700 Merit Scholarship awards. Sponsor colleges include 77 private and 72 public institutions located in 42 states and the District of Columbia.
This final group of winners brings the number of 2024 National Merit Scholars to more than 6,900. These distinguished high school graduates will receive scholarships for undergraduate study worth a total of nearly $26 million. In addition to college-sponsored awards, two other types of National Merit Scholarships were offered—2,500 National Merit $2500 Scholarships, for which all Finalists competed, and about 770 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for Finalists who met criteria specified by their grantor organizations.
East Cobb students include the following:
Benjamin Priest, Walton HS: National Merit Northeastern University Scholarship. Probable career field: Computer Science
Hunter J. Buchheit, Walton HS: National Merit Emory University Scholarship. Probable career field: Law
Paul W. Trotti III, Pope HS: National Merit University of Georgia Scholarship. Probable career field: Information Systems Management
Emma J. Webb, Walton HS: National Merit University of Georgia Scholarship. Probable career field: Chemistry
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!
What is the difference between rightsizing & downsizing? Modifying to prevent moving. Where do you begin? Why senior moves are different. What assistance is available? What role does the family play in a senior move? BRING A FAMILY MEMBER!
Plan on attending this free, informational meeting on ‘Downsizing, Decluttering & Home Safety’ July 23!
Our speakers will be Roxie Hernandez, a relocation specialist, and Linda Kaplan from Changing Spaces, a consultant who has been awarded the highest distinction in Senior Move Management from NASMM, the National Association of Senior and Specialty Move Managers.
Together they will give valuable advice on downsizing, particularly for those moving from a residence of 20+ years, and also on rightsizing and decluttering for those who are planning to remain in their homes.
A man crossing Woodlawn Drive Sunday afternoon was seriously injured after being hit by a vehicle, Cobb Police said.
Officer Joseph Wilson said William Cahill, 32, of Marietta, was taken to Kennestone Hospital after being struck by a maroon 2005 Rav 4 heading south near the intersection of Woodlawn Parkway around 12:54 p.m.
That’s just below Johnson Ferry Road, at an entrance to Woodlawn Square Shopping Center.
Police said Cahill was attempting to cross Woodlawn Drive from the west, outside of a designated crosswalk, when he was hit.
Wilson said the driver of the Rav 4, Vickie Morrissett, 69, of Marietta, was not injured.
Police said anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Cobb County Police Department STEP Unit at 770-499- 3987.
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:
June 24
1435 Hilltop Overlook Drive, 30066 (Summit at Piedmont, Sprayberry): $963,000
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 Police said this week that three people—including two men living on Powers Ferry Road—have been charged in the death of a woman last seen in the East Cobb area last fall.
Police said that Allen Kerr, 32, and Sean Deshazer, 26, have been charged with concealing the death of Maury-Ange Faith Martinez, 20, of Alpharetta. She was reported missing in Gwinnett County last summer and her skeletal remains were identified in January near Chattanooga, Tenn.
A third suspect, Jasmine Craig, 27, was arrested in Wichita, Kan., and is awaiting extradition, Cobb Police said in a release.
The release said that their arrest warrants were issued on June 27, following a request for assistance in investigating Martinez’ death.
Police said on May 31 that Martinez was last seen in the Powers Ferry Road area, but they haven’t offered more details.
According to an indictment in Cobb Superior Court, Kerr, Deshazer and Craig “did unlawfully conceal the death” of Martinez on or near Aug. 21, 2023, hindering the discovery of her body months later in another state.
According to Cobb Sheriff’s Office booking reports, Kerr and Deshazer both reside at the Rockledge Apartments on Powers Ferry Road, near Akers Mill Road.
They have been in custody in the Cobb Adult Detention Center since last November on unrelated drug and weapons charges, according to the booking reports, and they are being held without bond.
Police did not explain how they came to arrest those individuals, but said in the release this week that “our detectives are still working diligently on this case as part of an ongoing investigation.”
Anyone with information is asked to call the Cobb Police Crimes Against Persons unit at 770-499-3945 or Crime Stoppers Greater Atlanta at 770-577-TIPS (8477).
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 Georgia Symphony Orchestra was awarded a $14,400 Bridge Grant from Georgia Council for the Arts, a strategic arm of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, for fiscal year 2025. The Bridge Grant provides funding for operating support to nonprofit arts organizations, many of which were negatively affected by COVID-19. As part of this year’s Bridge awards, 204 entities in 44 counties will receive more than $2.6 million in funding.
“These grant dollars will allow arts organizations in Georgia to focus on their primary mission to bring art and cultural events to their communities by relieving the burden of certain operating expenses,”said GCA Executive Director Tina Lilly. “Georgia Council for the Arts is excited to help our arts organizations continue to foster economic and cultural vitality in their communities.”
Georgia Council for the Arts received applications from arts organizations from across the state, including performing arts centers, museums, galleries, amphitheaters, and music festivals. Bridge Grants are available to arts organizations for eligible operating expenses like rent, utilities, programming expenses and marketing.
“We are so grateful to have the support of the GCA as we begin our 74th season serving Marietta, Cobb County and the greater metro Atlanta area,” said GSO Executive Director Suzanne Tucker. “These funds will allow us to bring music into schools, senior centers and veteran’s homes, and to continue our special concerts for those on the autism spectrum or with other special needs. It means we can have a positive impact on our community beyond the concert stage.”
Funding for these grants is provided through appropriations from the National Endowment for the Arts and the American Rescue Plan (ARP).
GCA uses Peer Review Panels to judge and review applications following standard practices set by the National Endowment for the Arts. Panelists are GCA Council members and fellow professionals who are experienced in the arts discipline or type of grant being reviewed, or are citizens with a record of arts activities, experience and knowledge.
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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!
