“I am $20 million in the hole for 2012 because of projected revenue declines. I’m here to tell you that means one of two things: Either we figure out a new revenue source to help offset that, or we cut departments and people from this organization,” Lee said. “There is no more cutting to be done.”
Last September, county commissioners approved a $328.3 million budget for fiscal 2011. But in April, commissioners had to make an additional $31 million worth of cuts, which they accomplished in part by furloughing all county employees, closing some senior centers, scaling back library hours and using nearly $5 million from reserve funds.
In response to a question after his speech about raising taxes, Lee said, “Looking at a millage increase is something we’re going to have to consider for 2012.” County commissioners must approve the budget for fiscal 2012, which begins Oct. 1, in September.
But Lee also insisted he wants to hear from citizens about whether they would be willing to pay more in taxes.
“The decision has got to be made by the folks in Cobb County as to what they want Cobb to be,” Lee said. “In my mind, I think most of us want Cobb County to be what it was in 2007, which is respected for being the best in every avenue we do. … If we want Cobb to continue to be great, with services and enjoyment from quality of life, we have to decide whether or not we want to invest in that future.”
Jamie Vann, a member of the club who lives in west Cobb and is a personal friend of Lee’s, said he doesn’t want taxes raised, but “it doesn’t look like they have many other places to go.”
“It’s a tough place to be right now,” Vann said. “Tim understands this is a conservative county, and you don’t start off by talking about raising taxes. He’s under a lot of pressure, and I wouldn’t want to be in his seat. Nobody’s in favor of raising taxes, but if that’s what we have to do to provide services, I think you do what you have to do.”
Early in his speech, the chairman lauded the county’s 4,000 employees, who have taken personal financial hits through the furlough days.
“For years, we’ve had a reputation for being the best at what we do. … It’s not the five elected officials who make that happen. More times than not, we get in the way and screw it up. It’s the 4,000 people who work for Cobb County, who work for you, who come to work day after day for 10 or 15 or 30 years that give everything they have to make this county great,” Lee said.
“We are the best-run county in the Southeast because of the employees who work for you. Just Tuesday, we got affirmation from the last two rating agencies that we are keeping our triple-triple A rating by all three agencies,” Lee said. “We are now one of only 20 cities in the U.S. that has triple-triple A rating from all three agencies.” The high ratings allow the county to borrow money more cheaply.
Lee also told the crowd the county is going to create a strategic plan, which will be its first.
“We’ve never had one,” he said. “When you have a lot of money, you don’t need a plan. You spend as you desire. But we need a strategic plan so all employees and citizens know where Cobb County is heading.”
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Administrative agencies are all about one thing - billable hours. Some charity funding is used for salaries of top people, which can exceed $90,000. Where is our money going??? Quite frankly, I am not dishonest enough to start my own "charitable organization." These businesses pay NO taxes.
I tried to get a friend help from Must Ministries, and she was turned away because her utility bill had no ZIP code, and one homeless man was praying there but could not get help because he could not prove his address.
Drop the charities' slush funds, and follow the Constitution, and let US give of our own accord to charities!
Thanks for the laugh, though. It took a second, but I almost fell out of my chair when I realized you were trying to spell “voila”. Doesn’t take a French major, Buckwheat, just someone with a modest amount of knowledge…..but that WOULD exclude you, I suppose.
I say one way to increase productivity would be to get these county employees who are wasting our tax dollars by spending time reading the paper and posting self serving comments...I bet you could save a few hundred thousand dollars right there.
Cobb does not need 4000 county employees so reduce that number by 5%, couple those cuts witht he above mentioned productivity increase and walaa...you have your balanced budget.
PS: I know I mispelled walaa...I am not a french major so I am not concerned about spelling that french word.
BTW, I fund my own retirement, I pay a TON of property taxes and I VOTE.
And to the people who say it's an easy job to be a government worker & how we are all rolling around in our riches.....GET REAL!!! I think Jack Nicholson said it best in A few Good Men...."If you think you could do a better job, then I suggest you pick up a weapon and man a post!!"
Cobb County has great employees and alot of the workforce is prior military and/or federal workers. If you keep blaming and making the employees cut, then you WILL end up with another Fulton County workforce!! You get what you pay for!!
They get everyone so worked up that eventually they back out of those cuts (they weren't going to happen anyway). Then they go with what they were going to do in the first place.
My answer is to get your hands out of my pockets. Don't spend above your means. That is what you expect of the citizens, and what I expect of you. Any less and I will work to vote you out.
Until county programs and expenditures are actually cut back to whatever different level the people and their representatives might agree upon, to insist that someone else (county employees) other than yourself (KV) bear the costs IS asking for something for nothing. This may well be especially true when the demands are made in the form of unsubstantiated rants (KV).
As long as services exist, we all have the opportunity to make use of them, and all, to some degree, benefit from their existence whether we directly use them or not. We all, therefore, have the subsequent responsibility to pay our share under the system currently in place. This is sort of the way a republic works. We don't (or shouldn't) get to opt out and use political pressure to toss our burdens onto our neighbors when we get into a snit over how certain aspects of our collective responsibilities are being handled.
Mom?
BTW, I think Cobb should cut spending.
Lincoln said, "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt."
Do you ever wonder why your friends keep quoting this particular adage to you?
Why does a lack of planning on the part of commissioners constitute a financial crisis for the rest of us? Let them start trimming in their own staff and expenses - then follow with other cuts with public safety being absolutely the last thing considered!
If you want to read something - pay for it at a book store or go online and surf the internet. You can also go to one of library at a university. Public libraries are nice to have when there is money left over from funding requirements like police and fire.
No tax increase is needed to fund the basics and right now that is ALL the county should be funding.
No millage increase PERIOD.
County employees should be barred from posting on this site because we all know exactly what they are going to say.....they are very self serving and we see right through them.