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September 2, 2010
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Commission still pushing tax hike
Published November 20, 2009
Despite the protest from members of the community, the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners last week announced its intention to seek a 2.28 mills increase to the millage rate.
In a press release, commissioners announced the rate increase included 2.06 mills for countywide general purposes, .21 mills for recreation and .01 mills for debt services. The increase represents 18.4 percent over the rollback rate which, broken down, increases the tax rate by 18.89 percent for countywide general purpose and 24.22 percent for recreation.
When the intention to again consider the increase was announced last month, a hastily organized forum drew many protesters who were unhappy their earlier objections in the spring hadn’t been as successful as they had hoped. After pulling back from a 30 percent increase, commissioners are now considering what amounts to a 21 percent increase.
At the forum, residents expressed acceptance of a smaller millage increase to prevent cuts in public safety and the court system but were overwhelmingly opposed to any increase for recreation.
Debbie Dooley, of Gwinnett County Citizens for Responsible Government and Freedom Works who organized the protests in the spring and last month’s forum, said she believes commissioners who vote for the increase do so at their own peril.
“I think if the commission presses ahead with the proposed increase, there will be many angry voters who will take their wrath out in the voting booth against any commissioner who votes in favor of the propose increase,” Dooley said. I have heard various other citizen groups even mentioning a recall petition.”
The two commissioners leading the charge in the millage rate increase, District 2 Commissioner Bert Nasuti and District 4 Commissioner Kevin Kenerly, already have announced they will not be running for re-election next year. The commissioner for District 3, which covers the Grayson, Loganville and Snellville area, is Mike Beaudreau and he has gone on record as opposing the increase.
In the press release, the county said the increase would restore some of the spending reductions it was forced to make over the summer. The cuts were made when the county pulled back from the proposed 30 percent tax increase.
“We understand the importance of the services provided by our elected and constitutional officials — including the district attorney and the courts,” said County Administrator Glenn Stephens. “The plan will also restore funding in the area of public safety, which is critical to the health and welfare of our residents.”
While residents appear to understand the need to protect public safety programs, the additional appropriations proposed in the areas of parks and recreation and social service programs they are not happy with — and where the larger portion of the increase is directed. County officials emphasized the millage rate increase does not provide any additional resources for the county’s internal support functions, which eliminated $6.8 million from their budgets earlier this year, and nor does it fund the 2030 Unified Plan approved in February pursuant to state law.
The first two of the required three public hearings are set for Monday, one at 10 a.m. and another at 6 p.m. The third and final meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Dec. 1 after which the commissioners will vote on the issue. The meeting will take place at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center, 75 Langley Drive, Lawrenceville.
For more information visit www.save
gwinnett.com.
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