Franklin reveals monthly budget numbers, Norwood attacks
The city is finally able to put together monthly budget reports.
Mayor Shirley Franklin called a press conference today to discuss city finances, then, as soon as it began, told reporters, “There won’t be any big news here.”
Great. And I had to stop watching a video of kittens riding a Roomba for this?
As it was, the mayor and Atlanta Chief Financial Officer Jim “I Don’t Need This Job” Glass discussed a range of topics in the service of, as Shirley said, “fiscal transparency.” Here’s a short list:
?
- The Fulton County Tax Assessors’ office is running late in sending out tax bills this year because of an unprecedented deluge of property appraisal appeals. The later the process lags, the later the city gets its tax revenue, which raises the danger of a short-term shortfall.
?
- The city is seeking a crazy half-billion dollars in federal stimulus funds. So far, a more reasonable $42 million has been approved. Among the city’s wish-list items is $13 million to install 400 CCTV cameras on public streets across the city in an effort to combat crime. While public video surveillance is commonplace in the UK, Americans typically don’t take kindly to being watched in that manner.
?