The Cornelia City Commission has approved the city’s budget for the upcoming year. the nearly $18 million spending measure includes a 7% cost of living increase for employees. It does not include a millage rate increase but does include a water and sewer rate hike.
A portion of the budget will be paid for with surplus funds from the General and Water and Sewer funds.
During their regular meeting Tuesday night, the commission addressed minor adjustments that were made to the spending plan after November’s public hearing.
Cornelia added $49,000 to Public Safety Administration to purchase a vehicle for the public safety director raising the General Fund budget to $6,262,237.
Cornelia also increased its Water Plant and Utilities Maintenance budget by $58,000. The increase will cover the maintenance of the emergency generators at the water plant and lift stations. It also includes $40,000 to buy a small SUV or van to use for meter reading and locating utilities. With the adjustments, the city’s Water/Sewer Fund budget increased to $11,379,488.
Commissioners also added a new revenue line item for Recycling Income to the budget. The starting balance of $3,000 will be applied to the fire department for equipment.
The nearly $18 million spending measure will go into effect on January 1.
Changes to employee vacation, sick leave
During Tuesday night’s meeting, commissioners also approved recommended changes to the city’s vacation and sick leave policies.
Employees will now be allowed to carry over 120 hours of leave time per year, up from 40 hours.
“We have a lot of long-term employees who accrue the maximum 192 hours per year. This equates to nearly five weeks of vacation which is very difficult for our employees to use,” city manager Dee Anderson explained. He said, as a result, employees “either lose the time or take it all at the end of the year, and we’ve had employees who take the entire month of December off to keep from losing their time.” By allowing employees to carry over more hours, Anderson says “this will no longer be a problem.”
Another policy change Anderson recommended, and the commissioners approved, relates to sick leave. According to the new policy passed on December 6, employees with at least five years of service who leave their city jobs voluntarily can be paid up to 240 hours of their accrued sick time. It’s expected this change will serve as an incentive to prevent employees from using their sick leave unnecessarily.
Pioneer RESA agreement to hire SRO
The Cornelia City Commission Tuesday night approved an agreement with Pioneer RESA to hire a School Resource Officer for its Futures Program in the old Cornelia Elementary School. Anderson told commissioners that since the school opened several years ago, it has been an issue for the Cornelia Police Department. The city has been talking to the school for the last couple of years about providing its own security or paying the city to hire an SRO. Pioneer RESA has agreed to pay a portion of the cost.
Anderson told commissioners it will cost the city $76,104 to create the position, including pay and benefits. Pioneer RESA will cover 80% of that cost, or $60,883. The city will pick up the tab for the remaining $15,221.
The agreement stipulates that this cost will change each year due to the increase in pay and benefits. According to Anderson, Pioneer RESA wants the agreement to go into effect on January 1.
Touting the benefits to the city, Anderson said, “My thought is, for $15,000, three or four months out of the year, we would have an extra police officer on patrol.”
Commissioners unanimously approved the agreement.
Rail crossing upgrade
Commissioners also voted to move forward with an agreement with Norfolk Southern to replace the existing railroad crossing downtown with a full-depth rubber panel grade crossing surface.
The project would cost $224,429.
50th District Sen. Bo Hatchett (R-Cornelia) has been working with the Georgia Department of Transportation and has a commitment from them to pay anything over $100,000, says Anderson.
Anderson recommended that the city use ARPA funds not to exceed $100,000 to pay for the rail crossing. He also recommended that the city make this agreement contingent upon GDOT funding their portion.
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This article has been updated with additional information
