Cornelia residents would face no increase in taxes or fees under the proposed 2015 city budget, which provides for salary increases for city staff and funds several Water and Sewer Department capital projects.
“I thought it (the proposed budget) was very favorable, especially since we had no increases and the standard of service is basically the same,” Cornelia Mayor J.C. Irby said following the presentation of the proposed budget by city manager Donald Anderson during the Wednesday, Oct. 7 regular commission meeting.
“The city is in a good spot financially, and we’d like to keep it that way,” Irby says. “It’s been that way for quite a number of years, and we’re happy with that, particularly in view of the fact that we’ve been able to get, through our grant writing efforts, several million dollars over the past five years, and considering that we are in the process of replacing an 80-year-old water treatment facility. We are looking forward to the future.”
Included in the budget is a projected $70,000 increase in tax revenue.
“The increase is attributed not to our property values, because they have actually dropped another $1 million, but what they call the inventory value on our commercial establishments,” Anderson explains, saying that a number of businesses such as Tractor Supply, Bojangles and Captain D’s were not fully accounted for in 2014.
“Our property values continue to decrease, so we’re hoping we can get some more commercial development to help offset the residential decline,” Anderson adds. “The lack of SPLOST funding will prohibit us from completing a lot of needed projects such as road paving and sidewalk repairs, but we will continue to offer all services we currently offer.”
Pay increases will bump General Fund budget
“Our employees went seven years without any pay raises, so we are just now trying to get them where they should be,” Anderson says. “We discovered we were losing police officers and public works workers to our neighbors (Baldwin, Clarkesville, and Demorest), so we did a wage survey and the end result was that specific departments have been increased to keep up with industry standards, and for the remainder of our employees, we have a 2.5 percent cost of living increase.”
The wage study showed that the turnover rate over the past year has more than doubled, and that some of the surrounding cities are paying a couple dollars more per hour than Cornelia, Anderson says, adding that Cornelia offers a good benefits package, but that neighboring communities now also offer attractive benefit packages as well as higher wages.
“Plus, when you’re a young guy, it’s not really how good of a retirement plan you have, it’s how much money you have in your pocket on Friday night,” Anderson says.
Departments tabbed for the increase include the fire, police public works and water/sewer maintenance divisions, and the rate increase is not an across-the-board level increase, but position-specific, Anderson explains, saying the increase are approximately 7-8 percent.
“For example, our starting range for a police officer is $12 per hour, and it will go to $14 (per hour). The same with public works; we start them now at $9 (per hour); now we’ll start them at $10 or $10.50, depending on the position.”
Personnel costs account for approximately 50 percent of the city’s budget, Anderson says.
Other specific expense and revenue figures in the General Fund portion of the proposed FY 2015 budget include:
Revenues:
- $80,272 increase in real and personal taxes, from $1,159,327 in FY 2014 to $1,239.599 in FY 2015.
- $36,950 increase in “other” revenue (business licenses, alcohol licenses, police fines, franchise fees, etc.), from $1,654,100 in FY 2014 to $1,691,050 in FY 2015.
$56,928 reduction in the prior-year fund balance, from $208,496 in FY 2014 to $151,568 in FY 2015. - $100,000 increase in interfund transfers, from $400,000 in FY 2014 to $500,000 in FY 2015.
- $130,000 reduction in grant funds, from $480,000 in FY 2014 to $350,000 in FY 2015.
Expenditures
- $18,750 increase in general government expenses, from $190,000 in FY 2014 to $208,750 in FY 2015.
- $36,755 increase in the police department budget, from $1,297,467 in FY 2014 to $1,334,222 in FY 2015. In addition to the wage increase for this department’s employees, the police department has requested new software at a cost of $60,000. The department has also requested the purchase of two new police cars, which are earmarked to be funded out of remaining SPLOST funds.
- $53,461 increase in fire department expenses, from $749,571 in FY 2014 to $803,032 in FY 2015. The fire department, in addition to receiving salary increases that affect their budget, have requested and additional firefighter position to bring staffing to three firefighters on duty around the clock.
- $142,000 reduction in the street division budget, from $642,000 in FY 2014 to $500,000 in FY 2015.
- $49,109 increase in sanitation division expenses, from $364,933 in FY 2014 to $406,042 in FY 2015. This increase is partially accounted for by the request for $36,000 for the purchase of a new brush chipper.
- $11,650 increase in recreation spending, from $86,350 in FY 2014 to $74,700 in FY 2015.
- $20,403 increase in grounds & forestry division spending, from $365,255 in FY 2014 to $385,658 in FY 2015.
- $17,863 reduction in maintenance and mechanical costs, from $156,663 in FY 2014 to $138,800 in FY 2015.
Water & Sewer Fund responds to increased costs, bolsters R&E fund
The Water and Sewer Fund budget in the proposed FY 2015 budget shows a $305,561 increase over the FY 2014 budget.
“The reason for this increase is due to increased costs associated with providing water and sewer service to our citizens as well as several capital projects to be completed in 2015,” Anderson states. “We will put $1 million into the R&E Fund this year. This is to prepare us for the debt service that we will begin paying for the Water Plant Project in 2017. The proposed R&E contribution for 2014 is a $200,000 increase over FY 2014 and a $600,000 increase since FY 2011.
Although there are no water or sewer rate increases planned, the proposed budget does show a revenue increase of $103,296 in water fee revenue, from $2,877,525 in FY 2014 to $2,980,821 in FY 2015. Likewise, the sewer fee revenue jumps $167,244 – from $2,872,450 in FY 2014 to $3,039,694 in FY 2015.
The “other fees” category of the W&S Fund budget shows a $21,500 decrease, while grant funds are expected to increase from $400,000 to $500,000 and the prior fund balance will drop from $44,479 in FY 2014 to $0 in FY 2015.
“The revenue (for the W&S Fund) is significantly larger, in part attributed to our water line replacement program and the replacement of meters,” Anderson says. “We have brand new meters in probably 80 percent of our city, and that helps to more accurately account for the water we are producing and selling.”
The W&S Fund expenses in the proposed FY 2015 budget include several increases and one decrease:
- $80,194 increase in Water Treatment Plant expenses, from $16,586,086 in FY 2014 to $167,666,260 in FY 2015.
- $135,129 increase in Water & Sewer Office expenses, from $778,564 in FY 2014 to $913,693 in FY 2015.
- $26,584 increase in Maintenance and mechanical expenses, from $503,693 in FY 2014 to $530,227 in FY 2015.
- $137,188 increase in Water and Sewer System Maintenance expenses, from $2,224,665 in FY 2014 to $1,361,853 in FY 2015.
- $73,497 decrease in waste treatment plant expenses.
Capital improvement projects to be completed in FY 2015 include the water plant and reservoir ($15,000,000), the J Warren lift station ($130,000), the sewer line replacement project ($50,000) and matching funds for the CDBG water line replacement project ($130,000).
Tourism supports the budget
The Hotel/Motel tax budget for FY 2015 shows a $18,000 decrease, from $68,000 in FY 2014 to $50,000 in FY 2015.
“The Hotel Motel taxes must be used, in portion, to fund tourism-related projects,” says Anderson. “The FY 2015 budget includes $25,000 to fund Christmas in the Park — $10,000 to cover costs and $15,00 to add another decoration.”
SPLOST leftovers
A total of $350,000 remains of the SPLOST V proceeds, which will be used to purchase two new police cars ($70,000), complete the Level Grove sidewalk ($120,000), storm drains ($60,000) and complete work on the Depot ($80,000)
Public input and official adoption
No action was taken by commissioners on the proposed budget at Tuesday’s meeting. The budget will be available for public inspection and review at the Cornelia Public Library and city hall as well as on the website at www.corneliageorgia.org. Public comment is welcome and will be considered prior to the November commissioners meeting, where city officials will vote on whether to adopt the proposed budget.
