Clarkesville City Manager Keith Dickerson presented the proposed 2025 balanced budget to the city council Thursday morning during the council’s annual retreat. Next year’s proposed budget includes a full millage rate rollback. This has been a goal for the last year for the city to accomplish. Last year the city did a partial rollback to 6.011 mills.
Budget
The total budget for the city, including all funds for 2025, is proposed at $5,184,672, an increase of $87,428 or .02% over last year’s budget. The general fund, where property taxes are applied, saw a small decrease of $545 compared to last year’s budget. The 2025 general fund budget is proposed at $2,925,907
According to Dickerson, public safety makes up 56%, general administration at 33%, Clarkesville Main Street at 8%, and planning and development at 3% of the general fund budget.
Even though the budget did not increase, it does include a few items that are needed for departments. The police department will receive a new police vehicle during 2025. This purchase will put the city back on rotation in two years to begin purchasing one police vehicle per budget year. The police department will also see some needed equipment purchases. Municipal Court will see a software upgrade.
Also in the 2025 budget, many of the city’s employees will see a proposed 3% salary increase. A select few employees received a mid year salary adjustment and will only see a 1% increase.
Dickerson explained to the council that the city was not inflating any costs in the budget. The problem is that costs have gone up due to inflation. Even though inflation has come down some over the last couple of years, oil prices still remain relatively high. Many of the products the city purchases are derivatives from oil, especially in water and waste water treatment.
Another cost increase the city saw over the last year was in sanitation. Landfill tipping fees increased this year at the county landfill.
Tax Digest
Dickerson explained that the tax digest only increased by 1% or $2,810,406 with new changes this year. He had expected it to go up more than that. He felt the reason for the minimal increase is due to several buildings still under construction and did not make the cut off during the assessment period. However, he expects those buildings to be completed this year and be added to the digest next year.
With the new added changes and increased assessments, Dickerson has proposed the millage rate to rollback from 6.011 to 5.428 mills. The proposed rollback will save property owners about 9.7% in property taxes this year compared to last year’s millage rate.
The city of Clarkesville recognizes the 100% valuation method for property tax purposes. Whereas, the county and other cities in the county recognize the 40% valuation method.
According to Dickerson, a home valued at $250,000 will receive a tax bill of $1,375 with the proposed roll back. That same home at the same value last year paid approximately $1,502.75 in property taxes.
Possible increases
During the discussion, council members suggested looking at creating a strategic plan and budget to improve and replace items in the city. One suggestion was increasing the trash rate enough to absorb the increase in tipping fees as they are incurred. The fee structure would also create a reserve fund to pay for a new trash truck in the coming years instead of borrowing money.
Another increase discussed was for water and sewer fees. The water fees would be used to create a reserve fund to improve water lines in the city as they are needed and provide water line extensions into the county. County residents that are on wells have requested numerous times over the years for the city to provide water in their area. The sewer fees would be used to create a reserve fund to improve sewer lines in the city at a faster rate.
No decision was made on any fee structures or any increases during the discussion. However, the council asked Dickerson to study the fees and look at what the fee structures may be to develop a strategic plan in the future.
The city council will now make recommendations for any changes to the budget. Once all changes have been made, the council will approve the budget in a future council meeting this fall.
