After two public hearings and discussions on the millage rate, the Baldwin City Council hasn’t quite decided what to do– and no citizens have offered a perspective, either. Now, the city attorney is researching options on a compromise.
The City of Baldwin met for their monthly work session Tuesday night to discuss and host a public forum for the millage rate. The city council hasn’t made a definitive choice on what they plan to do as council members debate between rolling the millage rate back to 6.793 mils and leaving it at 7.504 mils.
At previous meetings, the city has fluctuated between leaning towards leaving the millage rate as-is and rolling back. During their first discussion, the city seemed to reluctantly lean towards leaving the millage rate at 7.504 mils, noting the needs of city departments that are finally being met after years of making do.
At their August meeting, however, the council took a turn, leaving Councilwoman Stephanie Almagno as the sole council member to vote for no rollback.
“This is already a bare-bones budget,” Almagno said at their Aug. 23 meeting. “This budget is anorexic, we know that. We’ve cut and cut and still have to go into fund balance to make this budget work. This is not the budget any of us wanted.”
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During their Tuesday work session, Councilwoman Alice Venter wanted to find a compromise. Venter has teetered back and forth between the rollback and leaving the millage rate untouched, supporting leaving the millage as-is during their first meeting, then supporting the rollback at the second.
Councilman Larry Lewallen has expressed concerns for Baldwin’s widowed population, and voted in favor of a millage rollback at the city’s last meeting. Venter shared Lewallen’s concerns, but was hopeful to find middle ground between the millage options.
Venter asked City Attorney Bubba Samuels about looking into adjusting the millage rate to better fit the senior citizen population. The goal would be for the taxes collected from the city’s older population to be lower than what it collects from younger citizens, so that the city could collect the tax revenue it needs, while also protecting Baldwin’s more vulnerable population.
While Samuels said he was unaware of any cities that had done such a thing, or if it was possible for a city to do what Venter proposed, he would find out.
If this compromise is possible, it would also cover Baldwin citizens in Banks County.
The council has asked for citizens to attend the public hearings, emphasizing the importance of hearing how Baldwin citizens feel about the millage rate. So far, no citizens have attended the hearings. The final public hearing for the millage rate will be on Monday, Sept. 13 at 6:30 p.m. during the city’s regular city council meeting.
A recording of the meeting is available on the city’s Facebook page.
This article has been updated.
