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Milton kicks off FY2026 budget; staff proposes two IT hires, two additional school liaison officers and multiple capital adjustments
Summary
At its July 21 meeting Milton staff presented the FY2026 budget kickoff and highlighted proposals to convert two outsourced IT positions to in-house hires, add two school liaison officers, and several capital and PAYGO funding adjustments including ADA transition planning and structure removals.
Milton City Council received the FY2026 budget kickoff presentation Monday, where staff outlined the timeline for millage hearings and public hearings and presented new operating and capital initiatives for council feedback.
Deputy City Manager Bernadette Harvill said the presentation launches the formal series of budget workshops and public hearings, with the first millage presentation set for Aug. 4 and final budget adoption scheduled for Sept. 15. The presentation grouped new operating requests, pay-as-you-go capital program updates and project-level changes for council review.
Ashley Smith of Information Services proposed converting two on-site managed-service-provider positions into two City of Milton full-time positions (system engineer 1 and system engineer 2). Smith said the existing MSP provides two on-site personnel plus remote services; that on-site contract ends in September and staff expect to issue an RFP. The city presently pays roughly $28,042.10 monthly for on-site staff (about $436,000 per year) and the MSP—s current contracted services were presented as approximately $361,447.20 annually. Smith presented an estimated annual cost for the in-house mix of staffing and reduced contract services of roughly $351,000 for the upcoming fiscal year and said keeping the two current, long-tenured on-site staff could preserve institutional knowledge. She said the proposed hiring profiles are roughly three years' experience for the system engineer 1 role and five to seven years for system engineer 2.
Chief Griffin of the Milton Police Department presented an operating initiative requesting two additional school liaison officer (SLO) positions. Griffin said the proposal would create a four-officer SLO team able to assign a dedicated officer to each elementary school and provide consistent coverage across middle, high and private schools. He said the program "has experienced exceptional success" since its 2024 start and that the expansion enjoys support from local school leadership and Fulton County school safety partners. Griffin presented start-up costs of $350,028 and projected operating costs of about $228,990 for fiscal year 2027 to support the two full-time officers, including salary, benefits, vehicles and equipment.
Staff also presented capital changes and pay-as-you-go adjustments. Highlights included a $50,000 placeholder for an ADA transition plan required after state guidance tied to federal funding; a $160,000 request to set up a capital project to remove vacant or derelict structures on multiple green-space parcels; and an increase to the vehicle replacement reserve in the fire department from $500,000 annually to $600,000 through 2030 (with further increases later in the plan) to reflect higher apparatus and life-support equipment pricing.
Bernadette Harvill told council staff will return Aug. 4 with the first millage ordinance presentation and public hearing and with a more detailed five-year operating forecast. Councilors asked clarifying questions during the presentation; staff did not present any final votes on the new initiatives on July 21.
