Athens-Clarke County commissioners review draft budget; Myers proposes $1 million transfer to affordable housing

Commissioner Myers presented a working draft of the Athens‑Clarke County fiscal year budget and proposed a $1,000,000 transfer into the county’s affordable housing fund as commissioners prepared for a budget approval vote set for June 10.

Myers cautioned the commission that “this I put this together as a a working draft of a CDO, so this is not a finished product,” and walked through revenue adjustments and line‑item additions she had included in the draft.

The draft, as described by Myers, assumes $1,500,000 in tax digest growth, a $600,000 decrease in sales‑tax revenue, a $300,000 increase in intergovernmental revenue and an adjusted use of fund balance (described in the meeting materials as roughly $656,000) so that the net change to the general fund would be zero. Myers said she was presenting the numbers as a place for commissioners to begin discussion.

Why it matters: the commission heard several requests for ongoing and one‑time funding — including public‑safety pay adjustments, homelessness and food‑security supports, and downtown event funding — while some commissioners pushed to avoid additional use of preserved fund balance ahead of the June vote.

Key proposed additions and clarifications - A $1,000,000 transfer to the affordable housing special revenue fund (proposed by Commissioner Myers). Myers said the transfer would go into the affordable housing fund; she did not specify further restrictions for that transfer in the hearing and said the commission could designate uses later. - A $50,000 allocation for the food bank (described as a commissioner request). - Several court and public‑safety items listed on Myers’ draft: $250,000 for courthouse…