UPDATE: Looks like my question is even more theoretical at this point!  AJC reports “DeKalb approves budget with no tax increase”

While DeKalb residents won’t have to pay more in property taxes this year, they will see a loss in services, including the board of health, senior services and libraries. That loss could get worse.

…While the commission made deep cuts, no police officers, firefighters or sheriff’s deputies will lose their jobs, May said. The CEO had threatened that public safety employees would be laid off if a tax increase wasn’t approved.

However, the approved budget includes unpaid holidays and no take-home vehicles for employees.

Police say this will take thousands of dollars from officers’ salary, hurt morale and increase response times.

The AJC reports this morning that DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis has backed off his proposed 1.86 millage rate increase for the coming fiscal year, knocking it down to 1.08 mils, after “identifying $6.7 million more revenue, including collecting more probation fees and serving more warrants.”

Of course, if you listen to the chatter coming out of the DeKalb County Commission, they want none of that.  Since the CEO first introduced the idea of a millage rate increase a couple months ago, the commission has been adamantly against it.  Instead of a millage increase, the commission is suggesting…

…all county employees to not be paid on the remaining holidays in 2010, eliminating the majority of take-home vehicles and an early retirement program. Commissioners say they will consider layoffs if not enough employees sign up for the early retirement program.

So, what do you think the commission should do to close the $100 million budget gap?  Is the solution a combination of cuts and increases?  Or just plain ol’ budget cuts?

On the county government side, Burrell Ellis and company are looking for an extra $20 million to cut from DeKalb County’s budget after someone uncovered an un-calculated 6.7% decline in property values.

On the schools side of the equation, things have gotten even uglier.  From the AJC…

Next week, school officials will identify the four elementary schools that will close at the end of the school year in May. They plan to close another eight to 10 schools in May 2011.

The schools will be selected out of the 29 schools with enrollments of less than 300 students. District officials are eyeing schools in south DeKalb now that Dunwoody has become the fastest-growing area of the county, Lewis said.

I understand and respect the arguments of those that want as little to do with county government as possible, but man, sometimes I just feel really bad for South DeKalb.

According to the AJC, Rep. Stephanie Stuckey Benfield says she has 6 of the 10 signatures from the DeKalb delegation needed to put the Decatur/Avondale College Ave commercial annexation bill to a vote before the General Assembly.

DeKalb County’s legislative delegation conducted a two-hour meeting Monday on annexation in general and in particular on the proposal for the two cities to meet at Sams Crossing.

It was announced at the end of the session that the sponsor of the two bills — one for Avondale Estates, one for Decatur — can begin lobbying fellow lawmakers to sign off on the plan. The delegation’s rules require signatures from at least 10 of its 21 members to move a bill forward for a General Assembly vote. State Rep. Stephanie Stuckey Benfield said she already has six signatures for the bills.

Also in the article: Many area business owners are still angry about the possibility.  DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis is against it.  And Decatur Mayor Bill Floyd is tired of delays.

UPDATE: Geoff has a very detailed report of opinions given on annexation from the hearing at the Georgia Capitol.  No big surprises though.  The Decatur and Avondale mayors are for it.  DeKalb commish Kathie Gannon and many of the area’s business owners are against it.  And round-and-round we go.

Lots of bad checks and a moldy house? I don’t even know what to do with that!
Stone Mountain, are you seeing this!?

h/t: DeKalb Officers

The common thread through the two of the three AJC articles on last night’s DeKalb County Commission meeting?  No new taxes!

Though MARTA is a stated top goal for the commission this year, and they support the proposed 10-county penny tax for the struggling public transportation system, they can’t currently get behind the bill because it asks Fulton and DeKalb to put up a second penny in sales tax.

CEO Burrell Ellis explains…

“We’ve got other pressing needs in our infrastructure and don’t want to be saddled with another penny,” Ellis told legislators.

That money is needed for roads, public safety, parks and other county services, he said.

And if the state were to impose the extra penny, commissioners stated they were ready to ask for a referendum to rescind the current penny tax.

Read the rest of this entry »

The AJC gives DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis high marks for his first year on the job, noting a long list of housekeeping-ish accomplishments, such as consolidating public safety, naming permanent heads of departments, cutting costs, and firing the county’s telecommuting police chief.

And while Ellis certainly seems more the pragmatist and less the politician than his maddening predecessor, there must be some more valid critiques than the ones dug up by the AJC driving around DeKalb and polling people on the street. (Seriously, that’s what the article says.  I can’t help but imagine the exchange going something like this… “Hey!  Excuse me!  What do you think of your CEO Burrell Ellis?!  Forget it, the light is changing!  Thanks anyway!”)

Now that Ellis has proven himself a capable and less divisive leader than Vernon Jones, what County issues would you like to see addressed by his administration in 2010?

DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis revealed his 2010 budget yesterday, which proposes an 11% increase in property taxes and cutting nearly 760 jobs.  From the AJC…

Ellis would reduce the spending side of the ledger by about $30 million. He wants do this by eliminating 360 ghost jobs that have been unfilled but remain on the books; and by offering early retirement. His budget is predicated on 400 employees taking the offer.  The proposal would allow staff to retire without penalty before the minimum age of 50 if they have worked at least 25 years for the county.

“We have no choice but to have a reduction in our work force,” Ellis said.

The Decatur/DeKalb tax gap continues to close.

Sounds like more budget cuts and higher taxes coming from DeKalb County.  From the AJC…

In February 2008, the county adopted a $635 million budget. This year it’s lower by $29 million. And county finance officials have been projecting a gap of around $50 million between expected revenue next year and the current level of spending.

To close that gap, the county can cut spending and raise property taxes. [CEO Burrell] Ellis said both options were on the table as he was considering the final draft of his plan last week. He said he was aiming for a budget of between $575 million and $580 million — a decrease of about $25 million to $30 million from the current budget. “Without a millage adjustment, it would fall further than that,” he said.

Ellis is scheduled to release next year’s budget tomorrow.

Decatur PD’s Juanchella Francis forwards a note from Dan Reuter at ARC about a Wednesday, December 2nd Atlanta Regional Housing Forum at Decatur’s Maloof Auditorium.  According to Dan’s note, it’s only the second time the forum has ventured outside Atlanta in many eons.

Both Decatur’s Lyn Menne and DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis are scheduled to sit on panels that will try to predict the county’s housing future – “Housing Challenges – What to expect in 2010″ – and discuss “Housing’s Role in a Sustainable Future”.

To read more about this Wednesday morning forum and to register, click here.  The forum is free, though a canned food item for the Atlanta Community Food Bank is requested.

After voting Tuesday to adopt last year’s voter referendum for a considerably weaker CEO, the DeKalb Commission is already looking to scrap it.  According to an article in today’s AJC, a majority of DeKalb Commissioners are in favor of doing away with the CEO entirely and hiring a city manager to run day-to-day operations.

CEO Burrell Ellis, who favored the weakened CEO referendum last fall – even though he was running for job – doesn’t sound all that enthused on this latest development.  Ellis suggests that the commission may just be using this idea in order to gain leverage in a recent budget dispute.

I’m not sure I can come down definitively on either side of this particular issue.  I do believe that Ellis has made significant inroads to repair many of the charred bridges left by his predecessor.  On the other hand, with a city manager-style government, I might actually stand a chance of understanding the way decisions are made at the County level.

Right now I’m pretty sure the way it works is they all flip a coin, the North and South DeKalb contingents argue over whether it’s heads or tails, and then the CEO vetoes it. 

Kidding…love ya politics.  Love ya.