Art Lawler
The Athens Review
Athens —
The Athens City Council cleared another hurdle in its desire to increase the tax rate for the residents of this city.
The hearing was held in council chambers Wednesday morning, giving members of the public a chance to state their views.
Two residents did so during the 15-minute meeting, and one person commented on the proposed tax hike to a reporter after the meeting.
None of the three citizens were in favor of the tax increase, which would set the new rate at just over 55 cents (.552076) per $100 valuation. That’s a little over 3.5 cents (3.3564) increase in the tax rate. The current tax rate is about 51.8 (.518512) cents per $100 valuation.
Board members voted 4-1 recently to raise the rate due to a $270,000 shortfall in revenues to meet next year’s budget.
First to speak during the meeting was Gerald Bergman of 903 Van Winkle Circle:
“Rather that raising taxes to cover the $200,000 budget shortfall, you should consider doing what we have to do — cut spending — especially of discretionary items.
“Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to acquire the new building off the square to combine the Athens Visitor Center, Chamber of Commerce and the AEDC, if doing so put you over budget that requires a tax increase.
“Most of us senior’s are on a fixed income, NO COLA for Social Security or federal or state retirements. Yet, in the real world, the cost of living goes up and up, largely due to tax increases at all levels.
“Finally, it doesn’t sound very senior-friendly for a city that promotes itself as a certified-retirement community to be raising taxes while having no freeze on city taxes for seniors.”
Mayor Randy Daniel clarified one point on Bergman’s remarks, saying the new building was not purchased with city funds, but with EDC funds. Daniels also said the city has an obligation to maintain city services, but said all other programs have been eliminated.
Local physician David Boyles also spoke, saying the city should not be raising taxes at such a difficult time financially in the country.
Boyles said property values are supposed to have declined, but he hasn’t seen any evidence of that. All his friends, he said, have higher property rates than a year ago.
“It’s almost like Obamacare,” he said. “They’re going to do this no matter what. With other tax increases, and the healthcare costs that are going to affect people soon, I’ve had enough.”
At the close of the meeting, Sandra Price said, “I don’t think they have to raise taxes. It’s not just the old people that hurt. A lot of young people are hurting, too. They were supposed to be here today, but they didn’t show up,” she said.
Boyles said he was very disappointed in the turnout.
“They have needs, and they need to voice them. A lot of people with limited means are going to get worse with all this taxation.”
Council member Aubrey Jones, the lone “nea” vote on the council for the proposed new rate, still doesn’t think the tax increase is needed.
“We don’t need to raise the citizen’s tax rate,” Jones said. He said the shortfall of roughly $227,000 for the new budget could be made up from a reserve fund of $800,000.
But Assistant City Manager and Director of Finance and Technology David Hopkins said those funds are usually reserved for emergency use in case of natural disasters like tornadoes or flooding.
“We have $1 million, but it’s restricted,” he said.
Hopkins admitted the term “emergency” is always a matter of opinion. Whether a tough economic situation meets the qualification for emergency is a matter of who’s deciding.
The City of Athens has $800,000 in a reserve fund and another $200,000 set aside for capital improvements.
“For most cities, the standard is to have 3-month set aside (for running the city). We have nowhere near that much put aside.”
Hopkins said in such a scenario, the demands on city funds for supplies and overtime pay would mount quickly.
The council meets again in a regularly-scheduled 5:30 p.m. meeting on Sept. 13.
