Published Saturday, October 11, 2008

City of Palmetto holds public hearing on millage rate increase

The Times-Herald

The mayor and council of the city of Palmetto held a third public hearing on the proposed millage rate increase at the October regular council meeting.

"This is our opportunity to be in listening mode -- to take your concerns into consideration," said Mayor John Miller.

Prior to hearing public comment, City Manager Terry Todd provided an overview of the proposed 2009 budget. Most of the increase expenditures are in the area of public safety.

"We have budgeted for the addition of four police officers and an increase in police salaries, as well as an increase in the number of firefighters and in increase in those salaries," said Todd. "On the revenue side, there have been two large reductions in revenues -- in licensing and permitting and in interest revenues from our money market accounts."

Construction has stopped because of the downturn in the economy, he added, which has also affected tipping fee revenues generated by the city's landfill.

"In addition to the reduction in interest revenues in our market accounts, our principal amounts have also been reduced because of the increase in expenditures for public safety," said Todd. The result is a shortfall of just over a million dollars for the 2009 fiscal year budget.

To address the shortfall, the city has proposed a 4 mill increase, taking the proposed millage for 2009 from 4.5 mills to 8.5 mills.

"We now have the staffing capability to have four officers per shift, which is an improvement over our previous staffing, which many times meant only two officers per shift, "said Mayor Miller. "We also now have a supervisor on each shift," he added, "which puts us much closer to the national standard of one officer per 1,000 residents."

"The other gain is on the fire safety side," said Miller. "We were last rated in 1989 when we were part of Fulton County Fire Services. When we started our own fire services department last year, we were contacted by the ISO rating organization regarding the need to reevaluate the safety rating."

"Without the additional materials and personnel, we were in serious jeopardy of facing a negative change in our ISO reevaluation rating."

Maintaining a favorable ISO rating does not typically decrease home insurance rates, but suffering a negative rating change would almost certainly increase those rates, the mayor said.

George Tedder, whose wife Elizabeth owns My Favorite Things Antique Shop, a business on Toombs Street, spoke first at the hearing.

"If we cannot get relief on our taxes, not just from Palmetto, but also from Fulton County, we are going to be in a position of not being able to operate in Palmetto any longer," he said. "We'll just have to stick with our Coweta-based location only."

Garfield Cannon said, "I think we could realize some cuts in the fire department, no more fires than we have. It seems like we have a lot of overhead in this area. Remember we're still paying Fulton County taxes, too," he added.

Cannon also took issue with the fact that people stopped for minor offenses often see two or three police vehicles responding.

When Scott Cannon asked for a justification of a $500,000 increase for four additional police officers -- and another $500,000 for additional fire personnel -- the mayor responded that the line item increases actually cover insurance, benefits, salaries, salary increases, and the increased expenditure for additional materials and equipment that were needed.

"The biggest expense, or item, in the fire department budget is, by far, in the area of personnel," said Fire Chief Henry Argo. "Our salary is now in a proper range with the surrounding jurisdictions," he said, "which is necessary to the retention of a qualified force."

In addition to four additional full-time firefighters, the fire department added a part-time fire inspector.

JoLynn Griffith noted that some of the biggest expenses occurred in the group insurance line item. "Is it possible that you could find new insurance," she asked. "It's a 50 percent increase over the previous year.

"You're absolutely right," said the mayor. "We are actively shopping our group health insurance with two providers. We've got to weigh the cost with the affordability for our employees," he added. "And while there was a huge increase in the year to year numbers, it is important to note that we didn't have a line item for insurance in the fire service area in the previous fiscal year, Miller said.

Dorothy Carlton took issue with the manner in which police resources are deployed and how they utilize their time.

"We don't need the police to intimidate us or antagonize us," said Carlton. "I look over and see someone stopped for a broken tail light, and then I'll look over and see a drug deal going down, and the police officer can't address the drug deal because he's addressing the broken tail light."

The mayor responded that Carlton's concern is an issue they hope to address with the swearing in of Palmetto Chief of Police Luther Graham.

Chief Graham comes to Palmetto with 35 years of law enforcement experience, having retired from the East Point Police Department.

"If you have a concern in your particular community, just call my office, and we will address that situation," said Graham.

"My office is open; just call me," he added. "My number is 770-463-9068, ext.12."

The mayor thanked everyone for their attendance, their comments, and their participation in the city's government functions.

"These are some very difficult times; we're aware of that," said Miller. "We're listening, and weighing, all the comments that have been made at the three public hearings."

Palmetto has scheduled a special called council meeting on Monday at 6:30 p.m. for a second reading of the proposed millage rate and a vote.

"We're not taking any of these line items increases lightly," said the city's newest council member Mike Basaric. "We're not your adversaries; we're your neighbors. We're working hard to find the right answers for our city."