Proposed Macon-Bibb budget reaches consolidation milestone

Macon-Bibb County’s proposed fiscal 2017 budget includes a pay increase for employees and meets the budget reduction goal required by city-county consolidation without calling for a millage rate increase.

The County Commission, department heads and constitutional officers got their first look at Mayor Robert Reichert’s proposed $142.8 million general fund budget during a work session Tuesday. At $5 million lower than the current budget, the 2017 version would exceed the 20-percent reduction mandated within the first five years of consolidation. Macon and Bibb County merged in 2014.

County officials will hold a series of public meetings before voting on the budget, which is expected to happen before the end of the current fiscal year June 30.

Reichert said meeting the consolidation budget goal earlier than required is a “major achievement” for Macon-Bibb. The budget also proposes keeping the countywide property tax rate at 14.65 mills.

“I don’t know of any other consolidated government that’s managed to save this kind of money,” he said. “I believe we are the first or one of a few to manage this sort of cost savings and efficiency by combining operations.”

The proposed budget is about $23 million lower than the combined Macon and Bibb County governments in fiscal 2014.

“We’ve been able to (reduce the budget) without raising property taxes,” Reichert said.

The pay increase for workers would come in the form of a 1.5 percent cost-of-living adjustment that would cost about $900,000, and Reichert said that raise is “one of the promises we made when we implemented the pay scale.”

The proposed budget does not include using any general fund money to pay for capital improvement projects. Instead, that funding will come from the special purpose local option sales tax and grants.

Commissioners Bert Bivins and Mallory Jones said Tuesday that they will begin to inspect the budget to see the changes that have been made to various departments.

“Usually there are some things you have a particular interest in and look at,” Bivins said. “There was no talk (Tuesday) about what was cut. I’d like to see certain areas to see if there are cuts, where they were and who they affect.”

Jones said it’s commendable that the budget has been reduced through the efforts of Macon-Bibb employees. Part of that reduction came from the early retirement packages offered in 2015. The county was able to amend its current general fund budget in September by lowering it $2.9 million because of the buyouts.

“Hopefully we’re staffed to the extent we need to be to continue to provide the services the people of Macon-Bibb County deserve,” Jones said.

Most departments slightly reduced their budgets from last year or maintained them at the same level. However, one of the largest changes was in the Public Works Department, where funding is projected to drop from $4.4 million to $4 million because of a $420,000 reduction in salaries and benefits.

Sheriff David Davis said he was able to keep his budget down, in part because of 100 vacant positions after several of his staff accepted the early retirement incentives. The proposed Sheriff’s Office budget of $46.7 million is about $2 million lower than the fiscal 2014 budget but is about the same amount as the revised fiscal 2016 budget that was readjusted after the retirements were accounted for.

Davis said his office should be able to maintain that budget level for the upcoming year, “but with personnel costs and operation costs going up in future years, I can see some expenses increase.”

City Auditorium, Coliseum management proposal delayed

A proposal to contract with a new firm to manage the Macon Coliseum and City Auditorium was tabled Tuesday by the commission’s Operations and Finance Committee.

The move to delay the vote was made so the owner of the Macon Mayhem — the minor league hockey team that plays in the Coliseum — can meet with commissioners to discuss their previous experience with management firm Spectra when the franchise played in Augusta.

Philadelphia-based Spectra manages 136 facilities throughout the world, including the Augusta Entertainment Complex. Under the proposal, Spectra would receive a $120,000 yearly management fee as well as incentives from Macon-Bibb.

The Coliseum and City Auditorium are now managed by Noble Investment Group.

This story was originally published May 10, 2016 at 2:44 PM with the headline "Proposed Macon-Bibb budget reaches consolidation milestone."