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 security and repairs; $20,000 for Superior Court probation electronic monitoring; court reporter and part‑time bailiff increases with individual line items noted in the draft. - A public‑safety equity adjustment request presented as $615,000 for the sheriff’s office incumbents, with an additional placeholder of $400,000 intended to address parity for corrections and probation staff; Myers said the $400,000 figure would need clarification. - A $339,329 line described in the draft for a “real‑time crisis center.” - An additional $8,000 for Keep Athens‑Clarke County Beautiful and a proposed adjustment to downtown event funding (Myers included $150,000 in the draft but staff noted only an estimated $93,000 is available in the motel‑tax fund and recommended the draft be adjusted).

Staff and HR estimates HR staff provided a cost estimate for pay‑parity adjustments across public‑safety departments, presented in the meeting Q&A. HR staff summarized the estimates as: “For the sheriff's office, it'd be 376,735 dollars, plus 30% for benefits. So a total ... 489,755.” For corrections the figure given was $635,104, and for probation $92,613, for a combined total HR presented of $1,217,472. HR clarified those figures were for incumbents and did not include vacant positions.

Mattress replacement and equipment requests Commissioners questioned a $40,000 line tied to a firefighters’ collective bargaining request for mattress and computer replacement. Vicky, a staff member who answered procurement questions, said the per‑mattress cost used by the department is about $449 and that the draft covers replacement of all mattresses over eight years old — a total the department listed as 49 mattresses — and then moving to a seven‑year replacement cycle. Vicky said departments follow IT and procurement approval processes for computer purchases.

Debate over fund balance and millage options Several commissioners expressed reluctance to rely heavily on preserved fund balance. One commissioner noted the county had unusually high fund balance in the previous year and asked staff to re‑explain use of fund balance calculations found in the packet. Commissioners discussed a possible mill‑rate adjustment to limit fund‑balance use; Myers outlined that a 0.1 mill increase on the county’s rate in her spreadsheet produced $760,000 and suggested commissioners could consider increasing to 0.2 mills to reduce reliance on fund balance, but she presented that as an option for further discussion rather than a recommendation.

Neighborhood leaders and program reductions Commissioner discussion included potential cuts to the neighborhood leaders program. One commissioner described the current budgeted neighborhood leaders program as roughly $1.2 million and said trimming the program’s size could save money; other commissioners pushed back, citing neighborhood leaders as critical “boots on the ground.” No formal change to that program was adopted in the meeting; several commissioners said restructuring would require more time to review.

Downtown events and motel‑tax funds Myers’ draft put additional dollars into downtown events and cultural programming, but staff noted the motel‑tax fund balance available for downtown events was approximately $93,000 while the draft included larger amounts that would need adjustment. Staff explained downtown event reimbursements typically occur after ADDA (downtown authority) or event organizers submit documentation of costs and request reimbursement from the designated fund.

Federal and ARPA funding context Commissioners and staff discussed federal formula grants and ARPA allocations that affect housing and workforce programs. Staff said the county had forward‑funded workforce activities with ARPA and had allocated roughly $14,000,000 for affordable‑housing activities from ARPA and related instruments; commissioners asked for clearer public reporting on how that money will be spent across FY25–FY26. Staff also noted recent small increases in HOME and CDBG awards and said the Continuum of Care administrative line is the county’s planning/admin share for CoC funding.

Next steps and procedural directions No formal motions or votes on the budget were taken during the discussion. Meeting participants confirmed upcoming public and procedural dates: a Taxpayer Bill of Rights hearing on Tuesday, June 3 (6 p.m.), a budget‑specific meeting on Thursday, June 5, and final budget approval scheduled for Tuesday, June 10 at City Hall. Commissioner Myers asked the manager’s office to re‑run capital and operating adjustments as needed; Myers’ draft included a notation directing the manager’s office to make capital‑budget adjustments to avoid additional use of fund balance, but commissioners did not formalize that direction as a vote.

The county will return to the budget schedule with staff refinements and updated Q&A materials on revenue, fund balance and program allocations prior to the June 5 and June 10 meetings. The commission did not take final action during the session covered in this report.