The City of Baldwin is facing steep cuts or a tax hike. Those are the two options left to city leaders after it was divulged this week there’s a projected $722,870 budget shortfall for the upcoming fiscal year.
The proposed figures presented to the public at a town hall meeting Thursday night list revenues of $2,444,630 against expenses of $3,124,275.
The revenue does not include fines collected from the city’s school zone speed cameras. The council set that money aside in a restricted fund, according to officials who spoke during the meeting at Life Church.
“As the City Clerk and Chief Administrative Officer, I would say the driving force for the deficit is a realistic budget. While our city has continued to see an increase in growth over the last three to five years, our city services were faced with budget cuts, freezing positions, and even a reduction in staff; and all without increasing operating revenues,” Emily Woodmaster tells Now Habersham.
Woodmaster points out that Baldwin has not raised its millage rate in the last five years, adding that between 2017-and 2021, the rate dropped from 7.75 mils to 6.793.
“Combining these realities, the city inevitably added to the deficit for each budget year. As a direct result, the current administration is faced with a greater demand for services with insufficient resources to provide those services,” she says.
An information sheet Woodmaster circulated at Thursday’s meeting shows the city would have to nearly double its millage rate – from 6.793 to 13.29 mils – to fully fund the currently proposed expenditures for FY 2022-23. City officials also discussed a much more modest rate increase of 1.611 mils. If such a rate increase were to be adopted, the owner of a home with an assessed value of $100,000 would pay approximately $160 more a year in property taxes. If a lower rate is adopted, the city will have to decide what to leave out of next year’s budget.
The city is still in the process of drafting its FY 2022-23 budget.
“We have not proposed a millage rate increase at this time,” says Woodmaster. “The town hall meeting was designed to get the citizen’s input on how they would like to see the city eliminate the deficit.”
Around 35 members of the public attended Thursday’s town hall. At least one expressed her concerns that now is not a good time for a tax hike, citing the rising cost of groceries, gas, and other household expenses due to inflation.
Baldwin has until June 30 to adopt its new budget.
This article has been updated with comments and additional information
