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Sandy Springs staff propose modest revenue growth and 5% COLA as council reviews FY2026 budget
Summary
At a May budget workshop, city staff presented revenue projections that show modest growth for FY2026 and proposed a 5% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for city employees; council members asked for more data on turnover, survey benchmarks and checks-and-balances for senior pay.
City Manager Eden told the Sandy Springs City Council at budget workshop No. 2 that staff projects modest organic revenue growth of about 5% for fiscal year 2026 and recommended a 5% cost-of-living adjustment for city employees as part of the proposed manager’s budget.
The proposed revenue picture, Eden said, balances conservative budgeting with recent collections: staff expects to collect $50 million in property taxes in 2025 but is proposing $47.5 million for the 2026 budget; local option sales tax is forecast to rise in collections but the city is proposing $31.5 million because the city’s share is scheduled to decline under a 10-year sharing arrangement negotiated with Fulton County.
Why it matters: payroll is the largest single budget driver for most cities, and Eden told councilmembers a 5% COLA was chosen after reviewing peer surveys and aims to keep Sandy Springs competitive in a tight labor market. Councilmembers pressed for more evidence on turnover trends, peer survey results and specifics about how the COLA would be applied and who would qualify.
Key details from the presentation include:
- Revenue assumptions: staff calculated percentage changes between the 2025 revised budget and the proposed 2026 budget across categories (property taxes, building permits, local option sales tax, charges for services and “other revenues” such as court fines and interest). The overall recommended revenue package reflects conservative estimates even where 2025 collections were higher than budget.
- Building-permit receipts: staff projected actual 2025 building-permit receipts near $2.58 million but proposed a 2026 budgeted figure of $2.0 million.
- Use of fund balance: Eden confirmed that the proposed 2026 budget would use some prior-year fund balance to balance the budget; the city reported an uncommitted excess fund balance for the current year.
- Parking revenue: the new agreement with a private operator at the 12 Oaks site includes a threshold the operator must meet before the city receives revenue; staff said no revenue has been reliable enough to budget for FY2026 and added a line item only if the funds become collectible.
- COLA rationale and timing: the COLA is an across-the-board increase applied to base pay for employees who are in good standing and who have passed required evaluations; the increase, if adopted, would take effect in January (calendar-year timing). Staff estimated a 1-percentage-point change in COLA (5%→4%) would reduce budgeted payroll costs by approximately $525,000 across affected funds.
Council response and outstanding items: several councilmembers asked for turnover statistics, market-survey results, and more detailed justification for the 5% figure; one member suggested some senior-level compensation questions could be discussed in executive session. Eden reiterated that the city charter vests authority to set the pay plan with the city manager but acknowledged the council’s oversight role and agreed to provide the additional requested data ahead of final decisions.
What’s next: staff said detailed line-item presentations will be provided at the special called budget meeting (line-item detail starting at 3 p.m.) followed by public hearings on June 3 and June 17 with adoption targeted for June 17.
