Alpharetta council approves first readings of FY2027 budget and millage; total rate holds at 5.75 mills

Alpharetta’s City Council on June 1 held the required public hearings for the FY2027 budget and approved first readings of the budget and millage ordinance, leaving the total ad valorem tax rate unchanged at 5.75 mills.

Director Tom Harris (speaker 20) described the FY2027 process and said the proposed millage would be 5.05 mills for operations and 0.70 mills for debt service — a 5.75 mills total, the same total rate the city levied in the prior year. Harris said the public hearing is the first of three required opportunities for public comment and that no final vote on the budget would be taken tonight.

Council discussion focused on personnel costs, where staff reported personal services account for roughly 60–67% of the budget. Councilmembers noted a proposed 3% merit pool and targeted market adjustments intended to keep pay competitive; staff said market adjustments were focused on select classifications such as fire and some general employees and that the total market adjustments represented roughly another percentage point of budgeted personal services (about $600,000 in aggregate, per staff comments).

Members also discussed flat or soft commercial valuation trends in the assessor’s digest and inflationary pressures on capital projects. Council asked staff for additional comparisons of benefits and compensation structures used in market analyses and for better multi‑year planning support.

Motions: Council approved first readings of the millage ordinance and the budget ordinance by unanimous voice votes. Staff said further public hearings are scheduled as required before final adoption.