Atlanta budget fireworks flying
June 27, 2008 at 10:30 am by Scott Henry in NewsHere at CL, we’d been reporting that an Atlanta tax increase seemed increasingly inevitable. Well, the same Council members who seemed so fatalistic last week got together last night and cobbled together an alternative plan that appears to allow them to escape Mayor Shirley Franklin’s proposed tax hike.
Just minutes ago – with a curious Franklin herself sitting in the audience – the Council voted 14-0 (with Lamar Willis walking in moments later) to adopt an amended budget that wipes out the .43-mill tax increase, cuts all departments by an additional 2.5 percent and even includes a teeny-tiny tax rate rollback that will save the owner of a $200,000 home about seven bucks.
However, the budget the Council is looking to pass is $570.8 million, about $13 million less than the Mayor’s proposal. When we figure out how they made these numbers work out, we’ll update this post.
Meanwhile, the Council is on recess and will re-convene shortly after lunchtime to finish up on this stunning turn of events. Stay tuned or head down to City Hall to catch the action yourself!
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June 27th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Actually, Council did increasethe millage rate by .3 over last year’s rate of 7.09. Certainly much lower than the Mayor’s increase of .43. But still an increase. I do not understand why folks are so upset by the property tax increase when the water-sewer rates scheduled to go into effect on July 1 will increase most people’s yearly utility bill by $200 - $300. While the Mayor’s property tax increase would have increased annual household expenditures by significantly less.