Budget Rights Committee approves presenting $174 million proposed FY26 budget to full board

The Marietta Budget Rights Committee on May 12 voted to present a proposed $174 million fiscal year 2026 budget to the full board after a finance department presentation and committee questions.

Finance department staff told the committee the proposed budget includes roughly $210,000 in “service proposals” added since the preliminary budget, a planned $4 million draw from reserves to increase capital spending and an increase in capital outlays to $18,000,000 for the coming year. “What you have in front of you is the proposed budget,” the finance presenter said.

The presenter said the change from the preliminary proposal — which the presenter described as about $172 million — to the current $174 million proposal reflects the added service proposals and higher projected cost of sales driven by recent discussions with MEAG (Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia). Finance staff also told the committee that the budget includes a correction to the internal charging methodology: internal utility costs were improperly booked at a retail rate and will be converted back to the wholesale rate used in the approved budget.

On personnel, staff proposed a targeted pay adjustment for linemen and their supervisors: a 7% increase effective July 1 for non-apprentice linemen and their supervisors. Apprentices were described as not part of that initial bump; staff explained apprentices progress through step increases (a 5% increase on qualification, available twice per year) and that the proposed change is meant to reduce turnover among trained linemen who become highly marketable after reaching journeyman levels. Staff also said the budget contains a planned 4% increase for all employees, proposed to take effect Jan. 1.

The budget as presented also builds in pass-through increases for water and sewer tied to the Cobb County Water Authority’s scheduled adjustments; finance staff said these are included as cost pass-throughs rather than as retail rate increases for city customers. Year-end settlement assumptions tied to MEAG were included at the levels discussed in prior meetings; staff said recent meetings with MEAG clarified computations and that changes in participant ownership shares (linked to two new nuclear projects) reduced Marietta’s share of certain settlement amounts.

Committee members asked for clarifications on the scope of reserve use and the drivers of the $10 million increase from the adopted FY25 figure of $164 million to the proposed FY26 figure. Finance staff said roughly $4 million of the increase comes from reserves earmarked for water and sewer capital work, while other variances reflect the added service proposals and higher projected cost of sales.

The committee approved the minutes at the start of the session and later approved a motion to present the proposed budget to the full board; both approvals were taken by members raising hands, and the committee chair said the full board would consider the budget later the same day. The budget presentation and committee discussion concluded with the meeting adjourned.

The committee did not adopt final budget ordinance language at this meeting; the action recorded was approval to present the proposed FY26 budget to the full board for further consideration.