Ott shared his suggestions for solving the shortfall and answered questions in front of about 150 concerned and curious residents at Mount Bethel United Methodist Church.
Cobb Finance Director Jim Pehrson announced last week that the county would need to find $31 million to balance its budget before October. Ott said he agreed with west Cobb Commissioner Helen Goreham that nothing can be off the table to address the situation, though he disagreed with Goreham that a tax increase is necessary.
"I've said 'no' to a tax increase, and I'll stand by that," Ott said. "Your commissioners can't come to you and say, 'We're spending too much money so we need a raise.'...We're not operating in a vacuum, so we have to look ahead. If all we did was raise the millage rate and the same thing happens next year, are we going to raise it again? We don't need to ask for another increase in our allowance."
Ott said he supports furloughing employees, as he said it would save people's jobs while also saving the county money. Ott said one furlough day would save the county about $660,000, and he suggested implementing seven furlough days across the board to save approximately $4.7 million. He said he does not, however, support pay cuts.
"To me, the worst thing you can do to an employee, especially one who doesn't make a whole lot, is cut their pay," Ott said. "People buy cars, have mortgages, and they plan their lives based on their pay. The easiest thing to do is to lay people off, but it's a terrible economy to do that. The in between is the furlough day. And if you cut people's pay, they're still working the same number of days for less money whereas they're not having to come to work that day that you're not paying them for."
The county faces the shortfall because the fiscal year budget is projected in October, but funds for that budget are not collected until almost 10 months later, when property tax bill payments are collected. That means that county officials have to project what the collections will be, and if property values shrink, so does the budget.
"So why hasn't the timing of the collection of revenues been solved? If we don't solve it, we're going to hit this problem again and again and again," said David Hong of the East Cobb Civic Association.
Ott said there are a number of changes that would have to occur along with a shift in collections, such as the issuance of tax anticipation notes in March of each year and setting aside money to do that, which Ott said the county cannot afford to do at this time. And even if the county could afford to do that, it would take up to four years to completely make the shift to a different budgeting process, Ott said. Still, Ott agreed with Hong.
"We need to change it," Ott said.
Ott said County Manager David Hankerson will present a list of recommendations to fill the $31 million gap on April 12, and that the commissioners will likely vote to implement changes sometime in April.
"It can't get carried out for too long because we need to address it now," Ott said.
Some of the options Ott believed to be off the table included completely shutting down Cobb Community Transit. CCT eats away around $13 million of the county's general fund budget each year, but has a $26 million string attached with federal grant money that would need to be repaid if the county shut it down. Ott also thinks that selling off parkland the county has acquired, but perhaps has not yet developed, is also off the table.
The recent passage of a new, 2011 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax was also a topic that sometimes popped up in the two-hour meeting, and while Ott defended his vote to place the SPLOST on the March 15 ballot, he said he did not support the SPLOST that was passed. Commissioners voted 4-1 in December to place the four-year, $492 million SPLOST on the ballot, with Goreham dissenting.
"I voted to put the SPLOST on the ballot because I felt it was my responsibility to let the people decide. It's a public referendum, and it's not our right to prevent that from happening. Personally, I voted against the SPLOST. There are just too many wants versus needs," Ott said.
Tuesday night's meeting was also attended by Chairman Tim Lee, Hankerson, several county department heads, former Congressman Bob Barr, former northeast Cobb Commissioner Thea Powell, former chairman candidate Larry Savage and State Rep. Sharon Cooper (R-Marietta).
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Do you know how moronic you sound? As a fellow "Cobb Taxpayer" I realize that employees of the county work to pay bills and provide for their families just as I do. The county budget is in crisis because property taxes are decreasing therefore there is less money to pay the employees. I am, as are all of my neighbors, willing to pay an increased millage rate that would generate the revenue that the county has lost due to decreased property value.
In closing, remember this: It is cheaper to pay the increased millage than the increased homeowners insurance, increased crime, decreased police and fire response, dumpy parks, dirty bumpy streets and crappy customer service from county employees. If I wanted to live in Fulton, DeKalb, or Clayton, I would move there. I suggest that you move there and see how it feels.
FO profit programs? Yes, lets create Est CobbBaseball groups for the haves and exclude anyone who can't afford the high costs of privatized sports. lets see where that gets us. Parks and Recreation plays a vital role in the community. It helps address juvenile crime, at risk youth, health concerns and insurance rates, attracts business and pours in millions with tournaments and special events. All of Cobb County reaps the benefits when these people spend money here. You want to privatize it then give all the money hotels, restaurants, gas stations, ect make when these groups roll into town to those groups. You don't deserve it.
If you want to cut money look at the way public administration is conducted. One way is to exam capital outlay versus maintenance. The government hates to purchase capital up front but will pay large sums for maintenance costs. This is because of the mindset of the public administrator. You see, it looks bad to buy high up front, so they would rather buy low and pay high on the back end. This is not a moral problem. This is the way government works. It simply does not operate under the notion of profit like the private sector. It's just not the way the government world works. The money is then "budgeted" and not a "real" cost because it is part of a product purchased. You want to change government? Change the thought process of public managers. They really don't know any other way to act. They're good people doing things the only way they know how. Help them please.
Most people have no idea how things are run in the public arena and simply bark about spoiled employees. They miss the real chance to change things and instead post on a silly little ol' newspaper website because it makes them feel as if they've done their civic duty.
I personally know in my department that we have pinched every penny over the last few years. There are many of our buildings that need repairs but that has been put off until times get better.
I personally had rather have a furlough day than to be laid off. I've been through that in the private sector when the economic stress first started. It is not fun, and I do not want to start over again. I believe if they laid off employees it would just make their budget worse as those employees would not be able to pay their taxes and the budget would be even in worse shape than it is now.
I hope that this can get resolved and the Commissioners along with the County Manager can come to a scenario that can make everyone happy.
Thanks for all you do for us...