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Peachtree City manager proposes balanced FY2025 budget with small millage rollback, adds public-safety staff
Summary
City Manager Justin Strickland presented a proposed FY2025 budget that trims the millage by 0.06 mills and keeps the citys services while adding 17 positions (including six school resource officers and three firefighters), relying on a modest use of reserves and conservative revenue estimates.
Justin Strickland, the city manager, presented Peachtree Citys proposed fiscal year 2025 operating and capital budget on June 18, centering the plan on "taking care of what we have" and recommending a slight millage rollback.
Strickland said the city is proposing a millage of 5.983 mills, a reduction of 0.06 mills, while projecting FY25 general-fund revenues of about $56.75 million and appropriations of about $56.83 million. The proposal anticipates using roughly $71,000 of fund balance in FY25, leaving an estimated uncommitted reserve of about 53.3 percent. "Taking care of what we have" was the presentations organizing theme, Strickland said, as he laid out asset counts and aging infrastructure needs that undergird the recommended spending.
The proposed budget funds 17 new positions across public safety and support services. Notable additions include six school resource officers (SROs) and three firefighters (three firefighters are funded at half-year in FY25, with additional hires modeled in future years). Finance staff said the Board of Education will reimburse 100 percent of SRO salaries during the school year for the first year (about 83 percent of the fiscal year) and cover equipment costs; that reimbursement is modeled to revert to 50 percent in FY26 unless renegotiated.
Staff described personnel costs as the largest segment of the budget. Strickland estimated the fully loaded cost to the city of a police officer position at roughly $190,000 and a firefighter at about $128,000, figures that account for salary, benefits, vehicle, training and equipment. Staff said salaries and personnel costs represent roughly 65 percent of total expenditures and that police, fire, public works and recreation make up nearly 70 percent of the citys operating cost base.
To temper assumptions, staff proposed conservative investment-income estimates because ARP funds must be encumbered by year-end and used within the federal deadline. Council previously approved using about $4.9 million of reserves to purchase a police expansion building and land; staff said that expenditure reduces available cash and informed the conservative revenue outlook.
Strickland and staff emphasized the budgets multi-year modeling: the five-year financial model shows FY25s modest reserve draw is expected to trend back toward stabilization by 2029 under the current assumptions. The presentation also included potential future steps such as a facilities bond ($7.5 million modeled) and ongoing negotiations with the Board of Education on SRO reimbursement levels.
Council members complimented staff for the work and the modest rollback but several asked for further analysis of whether additional reductions or postponements could yield more direct tax relief for residents. The council set a public hearing for July 11 and plans final budget and millage adoption at the first August meeting pending the final digest.
The workshop concluded with no formal vote; staff will return with additional detail and updated modeling as the review continues.
