DeKalb County Budget Review Meeting Tonight

DeKalb County Commissioner Elaine Boyer will host tonight her first budget hearing in District 1 at 7 p.m. at Montgomery Elementary School in Brookhaven.

This meeting is the second to the last opportunity the public will have to ask questions and lobby for or against the proposed 2.32 millage increase, and proposed cuts in county services. Boyer's second town hall budget meeting will be held at Tucker Library on Lavista Road in Tucker on Thursday, Feb. 17.

By law, commissioners must vote on a balanced budget by Feb. 22 to send to County CEO Burrell Ellis to sign by March 1.

Brookhaven residents and locals nearby have voiced concerns around the proposal to close and the satellite tax office on Dresden Drive. Among other services on the chopping block is the county extension service which is home to the master gardening program.

Ellis’ proposed $563 million budget would cut more than 750 county jobs to make up for $50 million in lost real estate and sales taxes.

If adopted, DeKalb residents would see a property tax rate millage increase 0f 2.32 mils. For an average DeKalb County home, appraised at $190,000, property taxes would increase by $264 annually.

The dilemma commissioners face as the mandatory date nears is determining what services to cut and or whether to raise taxes or both, according to Boyer's Chief of Staff Bob Lundsten.

"Everybody has a sacred cow in the budget," Lundsten said. "The big discussion is what is essential and what is non-essential."

Lundsten said no decisions has been made about the final response from the commissioners. He pointed to the fact that the judicial officials were meeting with the budget committee Tuesday afternoon to justify line items in the budget.

"The first question that gets asked is has the decision already been made," Lundsten said. "The issues in this budget are still being debated. It's that open of a conversation."

“I really would like to hear what the public thinks of this spending plan,” Boyer said in a press release about the town hall meeting. “I don’t believe they can afford a tax increase. But we need citizen input on what they would like to see cut from the county budget.”

To learn more about the budget, citizens can view documents here: budget analysis and budget 101.