Cobb approves $1.4B fiscal year budget on party-line vote

In following a trend in recent years, the Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday adopted a fiscal year 2027 budget along a party-line vote.

In a 3-2 split, with the Democrats voting in favor and the Republicans opposed, commissioners signed off on a $1.4 billion spending package to start on Oct. 1 that represents a six-percent increase from the current budget.

Although the property tax rates are staying the same, the new budget constitutes a tax increase because the millage rate wasn’t “rolled back” to current spending levels.

The county will be spending $84 million more than the fiscal year 2026 budget, with the major increases water and sewer capital expenses, the creation of a stormwater utility fee, additional employee salaries and benefits and higher costs for employee benefits as well as healthcare and workers compensation claims.

During long public hearings on Tuesday, commissioners heard from citizens who were mostly opposed to the increases, although a few spoke in favor.

Those opposed cited inflation and higher costs for household budget items and the closures of businesses in East Cobb due to rising rents.

The Republican commissioners said while they supported most of the budget items, there are some county departments that regularly overspend.

“We want to be thrifty with taxpayers’ money and I get that,” said Commissioner JoAnn Birrell of District 3 in East Cobb, who is facing a re-election challenge in November from Democrat Kevin Redmon.

“But there’s too much that isn’t critical now that we need to cut back on.”

While Birrell wasn’t specific in her remarks, she also said she couldn’t support rolling back the millage rates. The general fund rate is staying at 8.46 mills and the Fire Fund rate is holding at 2.97 mills.

She said that in 2018, commissioners voted to cut the millage rate, “and the following year we had a $20 million shortfall.”

Democratic Commissioner Erick Allen said that “while there are a lot of wins in this budget,” he wants to improve the public process for considering the budget.

Among them are to “stop putting staff in an awkward position of defending commissioner priorities” and to improve the messaging to the citizens about how the process works.

“This budget has done a good job” meeting the needs of the public in the next year, Allen said, but “I will continue to push for a better process.”

Most of the new salaries in the general fund would come in the water and sewer department, which also includes stormwater services.

The budget also proposes reducing the amount of water revenues to the general fund from 4 percent to 3 percent.

The proposed budget also recommends adding seven calendar clerks in Cobb Superior Court, a part-time position in the Cobb Medical Examiner’s Office, three veterinarian/technician positions in Cobb Animal Services and two positions in the procurement area for the countywide disparity study.

Related: