This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Budgeting Paradigm of Zero Mils

July 1st will always have several meanings to me. These meanings exemplify a home, a community, a city and a lite efficient governing structure and bureaucracy. The City of Peachtree Corners completed one year anniversary of its formal incorporation to a new city. As a Member on the Board of Zoning Appeals involved in the local municipal process, I am honored and proud to be part of these exemplifications of the new city.

This year, several contributions were made by the Mayor and the Council with their dedication, hard work and achievements.   As I reflect on these achievements, several thoughts come to my mind on the city’s zero millage property tax rates. 

Abiding by the City’s Charter, the city government finalized specific limited services and realized the concept of ‘city lite’. These were Planning and Zoning, Code Enforcement and Solid Waste Services. In addition, the city government moved ahead with a comprehensive planning for the city for 2030, purchased land for the future development of a multi-use city center, mobilized human resources, hired three full time staff, finalized coding and zoning, acquired a City Hall, created a governing structure, finalized utility services and established official committees.  Importantly, the Council delivered no property tax to homeowners as promised during the election campaign, completely eliminating the Ad-valorem tax for the FY 2013-2014 for the residents of Peachtree Corners.

Find out what's happening in Peachtree Cornerswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Ad-valorem tax on property is a topic of great interest and chasm.  Our property taxes reflect the value and worth of our property, sometimes overvalued and other times perhaps under assessed. However, for the City of Peachtree Corners now these are just psychological perceptions and if monies can be generated in the short-term from other sectors, residents are saved from paying for their property.

In the short-term, the zero millage to city property tax is very appealing and perhaps viable in running a lite city budget efficiently. However, this sets precedence. Expectations of citizens will remain high to maintain similar rates levied on them in the future years to come.  Moving forward, with the comprehensive planning underway and the forthcoming city center development, budgeting paradigm of zero mils may not be sustainable in meeting the demands of budget efficiency of both support activities and program requirements.

Find out what's happening in Peachtree Cornerswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Besides budget support for activities such as information technology, governance and administration, a chunk of the budget goes to outsourcing. This is a strategy that improves efficiency.  The outsourcing budget includes planning, security, IT services, and contractual services. This year, with the reserves, there is more money and more efficiency indicating a strong financial health. The 2013-2014 budgets indicate a fund balance of $2.5 million representing 67 percent of FY 2013-2014 General Fund revenue.  The total General Fund budget amounts to $3.82 million, mostly revenue streams projected from business licenses and franchise taxes and contributions from other sources including federal and state grants. With the projected plans for the city: the implementation of the comprehensive plan and the development of the property across the Forum, city budgets will have implications on staffing levels, mainly in administration, their technical capacity and the purchasing power in securing services.  Therefore, both support activities and outsourcing will be expanded. In the years to come, government support for the development opportunities for “Roberts Property” and the implementation of the comprehensive planning for 2030 will stretch resources thinly. Efficiency is also avoiding resource dispersion. Having a good reserve balance promotes financial health. Revenue stream from franchise fees and business licenses will not remain at the same levels. This is because the commercial and industrial zoning districts are already defined and several stretches need reinvestment.  The vacancy rate for retail space is only around 6.8 to 15.9 percent.  Most likely, similar trends in revenue streams from fees cannot be maintained. The designated reserve for this FY is $664,350 representing 17.4 percent of the total budget indicating roughly to cover two months of projected cash outflow (total expenditure). The budget plan does not include special contingency for shortfalls or emergency funds, though the latter may be acquired from Gwinnett County Service Districts. These may all be unanticipated costs.

All in all, at a personal level, I am delighted that I do not have to pay additional city property taxes. At a pragmatic and governance efficiency levels, the proposed budget may be stretching a bit too thinly depending on what activities and programs get implemented in FY 2013-2014. Completely eliminating the millage/property tax rate 100 percent from 0.85 mils from previous year to 0.00 mils this year may not have been too prudent. If the millage rate had been reduced by 50 percent from previous year, this could have provided scope for reserve balance and I would still have been delighted with the tax decrease.

Going back to the accomplishments, among others, perhaps the most outstanding achievement  the Mayor and the Council achieved this year was getting the formal ‘buy-in’ from the No-City campaign group.  This is an extraordinary accomplishment.

Happy Independence Day!

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Peachtree Corners