ACWORTH - A jovial Acworth Mayor Tommy Allegood highlighted his city's recent accomplishments Thursday during his State of the City address at NorthStar Church.

"We have so much to be thankful for and hopeful for, and I hope you remember that God has blessed us and will continue to bless us," Allegood said. "This is the greatest community because we have the greatest people."

His speech, titled "Building Traditions for Quality of Life," addressed everything from property taxes to the city-sponsored events that began in 2009.

Acworth had no millage tax increase in 2009, and was the only city in Cobb County whose property tax revenues grew in the past year, he said.

The city is currently $300,000 under budget for Fiscal Year 2010, and Allegood expects the city to end its fiscal year $500,000 under its $26 million budget. One thing that saved the city money was the cancellation of November's election. Because the City Council had three unopposed seats, the election was canceled, which saved $6,000.

A 100-acre redevelopment plan has been turned over to the Marietta Housing Authority, and the authority plans to take its first steps this year to build a 108-unit senior apartment housing development with Walton Homes. According to Ray Buday of MHA, they have applied to the federal government for permission to tear down the 25-unit housing project at Carrouth Street, and will apply in May for low-income housing tax credits to help finance the project.

"I want you to be hopeful and inspired as you leave today to get involved and see the positive in what our city has to offer," Allegood said.

The mayor also reported:

* North Cobb High School's band was named the best band in the state in 2009.

* Acworth will be celebrating its 150th birthday in December.

* There was an overall decrease in crime in the city, with a 24 percent decrease in violent crimes, a 12 percent decrease in property crimes and an 81 percent decrease in robberies from 2009 to 2008. There were no bank robberies in Acworth in 2009.

* The city's first Electronics and Metal Recycling Days began in 2009, with more than 15 tons of material donated at the event in November.

* After six years of working with the state to build the Senator Russell Parking Project, the project will finally begin with a start date projected in the next few weeks.

"I had no idea that there is so much going on in the city until today," Justin Adair of Acworth's Dickerson Agency said. "I've always enjoyed the wakeboard competition, but now I'll be sure to catch other stuff like the concert series and lake events that I didn't even know we had. Finding all of this out from his address and meeting so many people from the community in one room has really been a great experience."

The luncheon, hosted by the Acworth Business Association, brought over 200 guests, according to ABA President and Acworth Parks and Recreations Director James Albright.

"It was great to see all of our educational and business leaders in one place, meeting each other and keeping up to date on everything going on in their city," Deborah Hill, a member of the ABA board of directors, said. "The mayor is always so enjoyable to listen to, and I think his speech really gives us hope for a good year to come."