As far as Augusta Commissioner Jerry Brigham sees it, 2009 will not be a very good year for the city.
On Monday the Augusta Commission decided not to implement a proposed $24.68 increase on millage for a $100,000 home.
The decision will likely mean higher taxes, fewer services or budget cuts for the city next year, Mr. Brigham said Tuesday.
"We're going to have to revisit some things," he said. "We'll have to increase our revenues by maybe having higher fees for recreation programs or the rental of our facilities."
City Administrator Fred Russell said the taxpayers might save this year but suffer next year.
"Safety, clean streets -- those things are paid for with tax dollars," he said. "There's a possibility that not having the increase this year will cause a more severe increase next year or reduction of services."
The property tax increase would have brought in an additional $2.2 million, said city financial director Donna Williams.
In November, the finance department will know which, if any, budgets will have to be cut.
"Right now, everything's at risk. Every single budget," she said.
The current budget included a $2,000 annual raise for deputies and firefighters, $120,000 for two clinics for low-income patients and an additional bus route for Augusta Public Transit that costs the city $100,000.
Increased fuel, food and inmate medical costs will make it tough to create a budget without the additional funds.
To cover the costs of this year's budget, the city will take $5.1 million from its reserves, leaving about $22 million as a cushion. Without the property tax increase, the city administrator is expected to find an additional $343,000. Keeping the rate the same will also leave the city several million dollars in the hole, Mr. Russell said.
"We're going to have to figure out where that money is coming from," he said. "The commission listened to the people. Now, it's my job to make it work."
Commissioner Don Grantham voted to increase millage. He said his main concern was providing sufficient funds for firefighters and police officers.
"We all want to be a part of keeping our community safe," he said at Monday's meeting.
Mr. Brigham said the pay raise for Augusta's police and firefighters is unlikely for next year.
"It will probably be a very small one if anything," he said. "We promised them the $2,000 next year, and we were hoping to give them $2,000 more."
The city will have to be more efficient in spite of higher utility and fuel costs, Mr. Brigham said.
Mr. Russell said he and his staff are up for the challenge of finding additional revenue.
"It's going to be a tighter and tighter budget, but we're going to do our best to make it happen," he said Tuesday.
Reach Stephanie Toone at (706) 823-3215 or stephanie.toone@augustachronicle.com.
SCHOOL BOARD VOTE
While the City Commission denied a tax increase Monday, the school board voted 5-2 to increase taxes $18.78 on a $100,000 house.
Those board members voting for the increase were:
- Eloise Curtis
- Venus Cain
- Alex Howard
- Helen Minchew
- Jack Padgett
Comments
The tax increase voted by the chools board while 3 members were absence stinks like real dirty politics to me. Why not close the 6 schools as their, but really our, $50,000 consultants suggested months ago. Could the problem be of what to then do with all those teachers, oops-ie. union members. This is not a good start for Dana. I demand a revote with full board present and drag those cowards back from their vacations
The Augusta Commission are a bunch of incompetent clowns.
The Sheriffs Department and Fire Department are already overpaid, given pay and benefits. The Chronicle would do well to find out the following:
1. How many deputies does Strength Have?
2. How many employees does Strength have?
3. Excluding those numbers, what is the ration of sheriffs dept to the popoulation of Richmond County.
4. Same Questions in 1, 2 and 3 for the school system, only substitute students for overall population.
5. How many patrol cars does Strength have total in relation to the "road" deputies?
6. What happens to the money derived from selling off old patrol cars?
NO WONDER RICHMOND COUNTY HAS A DIMINISHING POPULATION.
My screen name says it all.
Thank heaven for Augusta Commissioner Jerry Brigham. Is he the only one that understands that the citizens have a budget to maintain also. Fred Russell has never met a tax increase that he didn't like. Why is the local tax increases always presented with a small dollar amount per a one hundred thousand dollar home and when the tax bill comes the increase is hundreds each year. Shame on those school board members voting for the maximum allowed increase again. Enough is enough, it's time for some results.
Next year, the school board will restrain themselves from raising taxes and the Commission will raise property taxes. It's only fair. Isn't it nice to see these two entities working so well together?
I think that when people see how much a deputy actually makes for Richmond county they would wonder why anyone would even take the job. They are hardly overpaid. There are probably several other Richmond County employees, particularly those in upper management, that are over paid and most likely useless.
Don't be so sure, PT. Every year the RCBOE wants more money and the only reason the A-RC Commission 'passed' this year was the $5m. in the reserves. Add to that the RCBOE wish to tax the over-65 seniors. Only one week after this year's tax decisions we are being 'primed' for what is going to come next year.
I understand it takes money to maintain the school system but when you continually sink more and more dollars in this particular school system and get the failing results we continually get it makes you wonder. You can sink all the dollars you want and you still can't buy an education. It is time to get back to the fundimentals of education and it doesn't take all of the technology in the world to get that. PICK UP A BOOK AND GET PARENTS INVOLVED AND TURN OFF THE GAME SYSTEMS AND TV. Augusta is a high poverty area with a ton of rental/low income housing. The tax burden continually falls on the working class to take care of all. This is why people are continually moving out of the area. We need to up the local sales tax so that everyone pays their fair share for the services of Augusta.
I understand it takes money to maintain the school system but when you continually sink more and more dollars in this particular school system and get the failing results we continually get it makes you wonder. You can sink all the dollars you want and you still can't buy an education. It is time to get back to the fundimentals of education and it doesn't take all of the technology in the world to get that. PICK UP A BOOK AND GET PARENTS INVOLVED AND TURN OFF THE GAME SYSTEMS AND TV. Augusta is a high poverty area with a ton of rental/low income housing. The tax burden continually falls on the working class to take care of all. This is why people are continually moving out of the area. We need to up the local sales tax so that everyone pays their fair share for the services of Augusta.
Cut those folks in the marble palace that sit on their butts all day and get fat and charge the taxpayer for their mediacl problems. Any fool could walk through the castle and find at least 25 public employees doing nothing. Are you blind fred russell?
"Mr. Russell said he and his staff are up for the challenge of finding additional revenue." That is the problem, tax and spend. Face the challenge of operating with the monies you get. Start by cutting out the 'perks' the Commissioners get, like gas and cell phones.
I agree cut services and trim fat. Increase user fees and raise taxes if necessary. Change the prison menu, and cut out the cable tv. Plenty of places to save--it all adds up. One thing I am wondering tho, why are most people giving Bedden a "free" ride and cutting russel off at the knees. They are both zebra's of the same stripe!
This is a prime example why we need access to the budget and it needs to be a document that says what we are spending and "WHY". You folks would be amazed at the money spent on "PRIVATE ORGANIZATIONS" and what you are getting for the money. The only way is to make our commissioners put the budget on the city web site with "ALL" the backup documentation to show what we are paying for and the reasoning for the expenditure!!! By the way I am all for actual patrol personnel getting a raise, but remember Ronnie Strength and his staff are "certified patrol personnel" and I don't think they are going anywjere becausse of "LOW" WAGES!!! Because reporters bon't know or don't care enpugh to ask simple questions, we need to start reading between the lines for the truth.
Maybe, just maybe there would be more money to go toward services IF the city wasn't always attempting to defend the indefensible in a lawsuit for something that they shouldn't have allowed to begin with. The incompetence in the marble palace is costing the taxpayers plenty.
Fred (What, me worry?) Russell talks about "safety and clean streets," but he does not send the workers out to provide them. He hides behind the incompetence of workers reporting directly and indirectly to him and says the reason for any Augusta problem (you fill in the blank here) is because the taxes are not high enough. It is time to reduce city services, reduce the size of city government through lay-offs and eliminating un-filled positions, selling surplus city property, and firing Fred Russell.
Deputies and firefighters are almost never overpaid. They risk their lives to do things that ordinary citizens won't do. I don't know what their starting pay is, but I do know that cities in other states start law enforcement officers off with a salary of about $30 - $35K. That's not enough to take have to possibly take a bullet one day for someone who thinks they get paid too much. And we all know that starting salaries for teachers isn't that much either. They only get about $33K starting out. That's not enough to have to put up with sometimes demonic kids and parents who don't get involved with the educational process until the last grading period when they start to ask why their kid is in danger of failing. Face it, times are hard all over, not just in Augusta. There might be other things to get upset about, but salaries for deputies, firefighters, and teachers should not be at the top of the list. Anyone who complains should take a day and go with these fine people to work to get a better understanding of what they go through and how little they are appreciated by some people.
When will the commisioners get the message to clean house in Richmond county? These folks wouldn't be happy unless they were allowed to raise taxes every 90 days.
Here's the conundrum: Everyone appreciates and agrees teachers, police, and firefighters are not paid as well as they should. Yet, every budget is criticized for being too high. There is much waste of money in ALL county government. CC is no exception. What do you cut? Whom do you layoff? What services are "more important" than others? Why are there 80 yr old plus employees at the marble palace that cannot operate a PC? If you can answer this, you should apply for City Manager.
As for deputies, it's nice to talk about them as risking their lives - how about the ones who abuse the power of their position?
I really don't think it would be that hard for Fred Russell to find more than enough cuts to balance the budget for the next several years. Maybe the county could stop paying for "consultants" to do "studies" costing hundreds of thousands of dollars on projects and ideas that are either stupid, uneeded, or never implemented? Maybe the county could stop paying attorney fees for Coliseum Board members who constantly find themselves in some form of legal trouble? Maybe the procurement department could start actually taking the low bid, instead of trying to steer business to their pet contractors, and then spend tens of thousands defending the resulting lawsuits? It appears that cutting cost is never an option, the only option is raising taxes. I feel certain that the voters will remember the school board's actions in the next election, and I think the tax paying voters are going to remember the mismanagement by the commission. I am a lifelong resident of Richmond County, but I honestly don't know how much longer I can take the continued wasteful incompetence.
Great post KINGJAMES. There are people in every walk of liife that abuse their positions. From Doctor to Plummers.
IMHO: If they didn't hire all those consultants and pay for all those studies, they'd actually have to THINK and they're just not qualified for that activity. Great post.
What do you cut? Gas for personal use, Cell phones for personal use, Money for sports awards, Money for BBQ grills, Out-of-town trips for Commissioners, etc.
Whom do you layoff? Start with the people who act if they are there to occupy space with no responsibility to serve the public who pays them.
If you can answer this, you should apply for City Manager. Until the mentality of the A-RC Commission changes, NO City Manager will be effective.
Why are there 80 yr old plus employees at the marble palace that cannot operate a PC? If operating a PC is part of their job description and they can't do it, FIRE THEM.
NLA: So, are you applying for City Manager? ;-)
The mentality of the A-RC Commission will never change until the voters tire of it. Sad but true. The A-RC voters are getting EXACTLY what they voted for.
Like I have always said,"Give them the money and they will spend it." I have never voted FOR a tax. Regarding the tax increase for the RCBOE, how can they ever justify even half of the new pay for the department heads. Some of them are jack legs that got promoted to fill the job space and have no credentials to warrant the position and certainly not the pay. Sickening to the people they supervise, and should be sickening to taxpayers. So Don Grantham voted for the tax increase. Why would he do that? A campaign promise maybe? Wasteful spending, that is all it amounts to. When you build something that has to be maintained, then those costs should be amortized along with the project so the people can see what they are doing when they vote for it. Stop giving them money!!!!!
tall2: Just to close the loop, the answer is NO. Like I said "Until the mentality of the A-RC Commission changes, NO City Manager will be effective."
For all of you complaining about tax increases, what services are you willing to give up? You want criminals off the streets, but the cost of housing them has increased. The courts have mandated that we also provide a public defender as have the costs of prosecuting them. You want the roadsides kept clean and the grass cut, those costs have increased as well. You want parks, they cost money to operate. Potholes? They cost as well. Flood problems? Drainage has to be maintained and those costs have risen along with yours. Can the government operate on less? Yes, but not at the level of service most of us demand. If you want lower taxes, be prepared for fewer services.
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