April Hunt
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
EAST POINT, Ga. — East Point residents could see a return to leaf pickup, more police officers and firefighters, and newly paved roads and sidewalks under next year’s proposed budget - even if there could be at least one new fee added, too.
Both the proposed $36.2 million general fund - the account that pays for basic city services - and $93.3 million in overall spending are roughly the same size as the current year’s budget. The tax rate remains at 14.75 mills.
But the 2010-2011 budget, which would take effect July 1, is the first in three years that does not slice spending in a bid by the south Fulton County city to crawl out of debt.
And the focus is on starting long-awaited projects that were cut or postponed as the city whittled down a deficit that at its worst reached $11 million. The most recent audited figures show that the deficit had been slashed to $2.2 million as of June 30.
“It’s time for us to catch up on our capital needs and get into preventative and regular maintenance work,” said City Manager Crandall O. Jones, who prepared the budget to be flat overall as a way to stay cautious about money.
The key projects include a plan to add 13 reserve officers to the Police Department. The part-time officers, who receive no benefits, would focus on burglary reports and other hot issues and free up full-time officers for more patrols. The department would remain at 129 sworn officers.
Copyright 2010 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution