DUNWOODY CITY COUNCIL
SPECIAL CALLED MEETING
JUNE 17, 2022 - 8:00 AM
DUNWOODY CITY HALL - DUNWOODY HALL
4800 ASHFORD DUNWOODY ROAD
DUNWOODY, GEORGIA 30338
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Agenda
Public Hearing for Establishing 2022 Millage Rate
Presentation Link Friday morning is the first of three public hearings that the City is holding to discuss a possible city tax rate increase that would fund
inflationary pressures for operational expenses, and as part of those inflationary preasures I am lobbying my fellow council members for a mid-year pay raise for our police department. Our City millage (Tax) rate has not changed in 13 years and we are currently burning reserves as we have done in other lean years but now the financial experts are estimating we can't do that very much longer and with higher operational costs facing the city, I believe it would be prudent to think about such a raise in 2023.
As
I discussed last Tuesday on my blog, our home values are locked for
City Tax rates (the Schools are not) therefore with no raise of the
actual millage (tax) rate, my city taxes have been the same since 2009.
My total DeKalb County Tax bill is $4,715 and of that I only pay $218
for general City Operations. Dunwoody has the lowest tax rate in the
County because we have so many
businesses that pay a large share of our taxes, we are able to keep
residential taxes low. My bill is similar to the home with the
$400,000 value listed below therefore if we decided to raise the tax
rate from 2.74 mills to the 3.04 mill cap, my expected tax rate might go
up $45 in 2023 for City Operational Services.
This
possible raising of the millage tax rate would bring in about One
Million Dollars and I believe that would be allocated very quickly for
Public Safety and other operational needs. Public Safety is Council's
highest responsibility and this possible tax increase would go a long
way to funding these increases.
Last year, we raised police
pay and restructured the entire pay chart as requested by DPD Management
but yet the cities all around us doubled our proposed salary increases
therefore we actually lost ground on the salary comparisons between
cities but we provide an excellent compensation package over all.
I recently saw Chief Billy Grogan on TV talking about officer pay and the many reasons that officers leave law enforcement. In discussions with Mayor Deutsch, I am looking forward to moving forward with additional funding for our officers. Thanks, John
Press Release - The Dunwoody City Council is considering an increase to the city’s
General Fund millage rate, matching the cap instituted by the city’s
founders of 3.040 mills. This would result in an increase of $33 to $69 a
year for a typical Dunwoody home.
“We have been watching closely the relationship between revenue
sources and service expectations of residents and businesses,” said
Dunwoody City Council Member John Heneghan. “We have found that the
revenue sources proposed at the start of incorporation in 2008 do not
match the current operational levels. We’re eager to hear the
community’s input on funding options.”
The base service level for the city created in 2008 was based on a
much lower level than expected today. For example, the parks budget
proposed at incorporation would be about $450,000 today if indexed for
inflation. Compare that to current operations and programming costs,
which run about $3 million. For public safety, the current number of
authorized police officers is almost triple what was recommended in
2008.
Dunwoody has never raised the millage rate before. As a result,
revenue from residential property taxes has remained relatively flat,
going from $2.88 million in 2008 to an estimated $2.94 million today.
The city has one of the lowest millage rates (2.740 mills) in the area
for cities that levy a tax. In addition, all homestead properties have a
1.000 mill exemption, effectively making the rate 1.740 mills. On top
of that, all homestead properties in the area are eligible to have their
property assessments frozen from any increase in city taxes.
A typical Dunwoody home assessed today at $500,000 does not pay city
taxes on the full amount, which would equal $321. Instead, when the
average freeze value is taken into account, that same house is taxed as
if it is assessed at $375,000, and the city taxes drop to $234. Raising
the millage rate to the cap of 3.040 mills would be an additional $42 a
year. Note that the freeze does not include school taxes.
City Council passed the 2022 Budget with a known structural deficit
in the General Fund. Starting with the onset of COVID, the city
proactively dropped revenue and proposed using fund balance to maintain
operations. But in neither year (2020 nor 2021) did the city use any
fund balance, so it grew.
When this year’s mid-year revenue numbers were reviewed, the deficit
shrank to $2 million from the previous projection of $3.9 million. This
millage increase would change that structural deficit to approximately
$1 million.
A city can have a high fund balance and still have a structural
deficit. In those cases, fund balance is generally used to keep
operations at the same level. One-time costs, such as the contributions
to the Arts and Nature Center, are not considered ongoing costs and do
not count against the structural deficit.
Staff has recommended advertising the millage rate for 2022 at 3.040.
Dunwoody’s Mayor and City Council invite the public to provide input
during three public hearings on the millage rate at Dunwoody City Hall:•
Friday, June 17 at 8 a.m. • Monday, July 11 at 8 a.m. • Monday, July 11
at 6 p.m. – this public hearing will be followed by a vote by Council
Raising the millage rate to 3.040 would generate approximately $1
million of new revenue. Staff recommends that $250,000 of this increase
be earmarked for pay adjustments for staff, including police, in the
third or fourth quarters to continue being competitive with neighboring
jurisdictions. The rest of the increase is recommended to be used to
shore up the structural deficit. All combined, these actions should
reduce the structural deficit to approximately $1 million. If approved
this increase would appear on the tax bills sent out this fall. The
city’s tax share of most tax bills represents only 5% of the overall
total bill.
