A balanced budget but a narrow one were the words of Mayor Ray McAllister. He opened the public hearing at the Mt. Airy town council Monday night with the news about the 2024 budget.
There was one change that Mayor McAllister had to the budget. It would be necessary to approve overtime that exceeds four hours per employee per week. The reason for this change was because the city “exceeded their overtime by quite a bit” last year. Council member Mike McCoy commented that it appeared that a lot of work went into creating the budget. He and McAllister thanked the department heads for their hard work.
No citizens spoke during the public hearing.
The council tabled the Animal Control Intergovernmental Agreement with Habersham County. McAllister stated, “Since the county tabled it at their last meeting, and I haven’t heard anything back from them yet, I would like to table that as well.” The council tabled the matter unanimously.
McAllister gave his reasoning for requesting the council to table the matter, “Basically, I want to know what is going on,” he explained.
Other concerns from McAllister were costs. “It is less than it was last year. It’s still a little more than I like.” McAllister added. It is about $4,800 cheaper than last year. He explained that Mt. Airy has about 20 animal pick-ups per year, averaging the cost to about $400 per pick-up.
McAllister told the council that if the matter gets resolved with the county, they would revisit the issue at their next called meeting for the budget on January 16.
