In a split vote along party lines, the Cobb Board of Commissioners adopted a $1.2 billion fiscal year 2023 budget Tuesday night that expands the size of county government and provides substantial employee pay raises.
Commissioners also voted to maintain the general fund millage rate and other millage rates except the fire fund, which is going up slightly.
The board’s three Democrats voted to adopt the budget, with Chairwoman Lisa Cupid saying that while the spending package isn’t a “panacea . . . it helps us to move significantly further ahead” in addressing what she has long said are chronic staffing, salary and other issues that have affectEd service provision.
The budget includes the creation of 147 new jobs in what have been described as “critical” positions and a rise in the minimum wage for county employees from $11.50 to $17 an hour.
The two Republicans voted against the budget for varying reasons. Keli Gambrill cited “philosophical differences in budgeting” and the growing amount of reserve funding that totals nearly $52 million, saying that “to me, we are expanding government.”
JoAnn Birrell of East Cobb repeated publicly expressed doubts about the higher minimum wage. “I’m concerned if it’s sustainable year to year,” said Birrell, who also wants the county to prioritize filling existing vacancies before creating new jobs.
Commissioners also approved, by a 4-1 vote, to implement the recommendations of a new pay and classification study by a consultant that will cost $22 million in the new budget, and nearly $2 million in the current budget.
Among the recommendations is an average pay increase for full-time workers of nearly 11 percent. Gambrill was the lone vote in opposition.
The general fund millage rate—funded by property taxes and that provides for most of the budget—is staying at 8.46 mills.
But the fire fund is rising from 2.86 mills to 2.99 mills. The extra 0.13 mills is being transferred from a parks bond that is due to expire, and after fire officials said they have been deferring capital maintenance and other expenses.
Birrell supported that increase, saying in recent years, the fire fund rate has been reduced twice.
“They are hurting and they need to be revived,” said Birrell, who is seeking a fourth term in November and who has frequently said public safety needs should be at the top of budget priorities.
The board’s vote came after a brief recess called by Cupid, who allowed public commenters to chime in, and they did so in occasionally intense fashion.
As she heard in a town hall in East Cobb last week, quite a few wanted the board to roll back the millage rate, saying inflation is taking a toll.
The Cobb tax digest has grown by 12.3 percent in 2022, netting an additional $60 million for the budget. But property tax assessments have gone up astronomically across the county.
Jim Jess of the Franklin Roundtable, a conservative group based in Cobb County, said rising gas prices alter “how people spend money in their households. People out here are hurting,” referring to senior citizens and workers who aren’t getting much of a pay raise.
Salleigh Grubbs, head of the Cobb Republican Party, told commissioners “you don’t acknowledge the looming recession.”
Debbie Fisher of East Cobb accused the county of not properly notifying the public of a tax increase in the millage rate for the fire fund.
Another East Cobb resident, Leroy Emkin, used his time not to comment on the county budget, but to rail against the World Economic Forum, the Green New Deal and wind turbines, speaking in fulminating fashion from prepared remarks.
Another East Cobb resident rose in support of the budget.
“I don’t know if Cobb is planning any wind farms,” said William Parker, “but the planet is on fire.
“Yes, some people are hurting. But it costs money to operate a county.”
Residential and commercial properties are assessed roughly every three years in Cobb County, tax assessor Stephen White said, and the state can penalize counties if they don’t perform updated fair market value assessments.
“We’re taking in a tremendous amount of [tax] money,” Gambrill said. “I agree that we need to be rolling back the millage rate.”
Birrell and Cupid are holdovers when commissioners rolled back the general fund millage rate in 2016, then faced a $32 million budget shortfall two years later.
Cupid voted for a tax increase pushed by her predecessor, Mike Boyce, while Birrell voted against it.
But with some county departments reporting staffing shortages of as much as 40 percent—including DOT, water and other frontline services, “now is the time for auction,” said commissioner Jerica Richardson, whose district includes part of East Cobb.
County department heads had requested a total of 658 new positions.
“Tonight will not be a panacea,” Cupid said. “But I believe that we are making the right decisions for today.”
The fiscal year 2023 budget takes effect Oct. 1.
Related:
- East Cobb residents challenge Cupid on budget, diversity issues
- 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
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