Dalton council OKs lease extension with school system, budget amendment and several service agreements

The Dalton City Council on April 7 approved a package of finance and governance items, including a lease amendment with Dalton Public Schools, a fiscal-year 2025 budget amendment, updated service agreements for cybersecurity and license-plate cameras, and two resolutions concerning a proposed homestead-exemption increase and a pension cost-of-living adjustment.

City administrator staff presented a first-amendment extension to the existing Dalton Public Schools lease for third-floor City Hall office space. The amendment extends the lease through June 30, 2026 and preserves the original lease provisions; under the extension the school system agreed to contribute $100,000 toward replacement of damaged first-floor windows, which staff estimated would cost "a little over $300,000" in total. Council approved the amendment on motion.

Cindy (staff member, finance) presented FY2025 budget amendment No. 1, a broad set of adjustments that included recognizing higher-than-budgeted sales tax revenue (+$106,000), additional transfer-fee revenue (+$83,000), an insurance reimbursement of $2,500 for a totaled police vehicle, and several grant rollovers (including USDA and airport-related grants). Cindy said the amendment also carried forward capital projects and included estimated interest earnings for SPLOST funds; the council approved the amendment.

The council approved a master professional services agreement with Biont Security (cybersecurity consulting and expanded GIS services) not to exceed $80,000 for 2025, and approved an updated service agreement with Flock Group Inc. to add three additional license-plate recognition cameras at a prorated cost of about $6,009.92 for the remainder of the service year; the Flock funding will come from the 2020 SPLOST fund.

Council members also adopted Resolution 25-03 supporting local legislation (House Bill 843) that would provide a local referendum on increasing the homestead exemption for Dalton residents age 70 and older to $325,000; the staff memo described prior increases from $50,000 to $250,000 and said the new bill would put a referendum before local voters. The council additionally adopted Resolution 25-04 to affirm and ratify a compounding 1% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for pension plan beneficiaries who retired prior to 2021; staff and the actuary presented that the city funded $2,000,000 toward the COLA with amortization over a 10-year schedule.

Why it matters: The lease extension secures office space usage and advances a capital-improvement window-repair project with partial funding from the school system. The budget amendment recognizes revenue variances and rolls forward grant and SPLOST items; the cybersecurity and camera agreements expand city services. The resolutions place the city on record for state legislation and memorialize pension benefit parameters already implemented through a budget amendment.

What’s next: Staff will finalize contractual documents, implement approved service agreements, and proceed with the capital and grant-funded projects. The homestead-exemption increase would require state action (HB 843) and a local referendum if enacted.