Dreaded words every taxpayer hates to hear

There are few words more powerful and attention grabbing than the ones Mayor Robert Reichert uttered on Tuesday afternoon. “I’m proposing a 3-mill tax increase in ad valorem tax rates.”

For many residents the words and PowerPoint presentation that surrounded that sentence and justified its existence fell on deaf ears. Anytime the words “tax” and “increase” are used in close proximity, the air suddenly gets sucked out of the room. But air should flow again if we look back to 2014 and the beginning of the consolidated government.

The mayor is proposing a fiscal 2018 budget of $148 million, $21 million less than the 2014 budget. In the four years of its existence, Macon-Bibb County has shown fiscal restraint by spending less than budget, $7 million less in 2014, $9 million less in 2015, $1 million less in 2016 and exactly on budget this year. However, that doesn’t tell the entire story. Budget is just a mythical document that is fungible. Revenue, though is not so pliable. The county’s income has decreased for various reasons in each year from $160 million in 2014 to $139 in 2017. In plain English, the county has been spending more than it has brought in. It has been able to make up the difference using savings and that cannot continue.

The fund balance in 2014 was $33 million. It’s now $14 million. The county must keep a minimum of 45 days operating capitol on hand. So how did we get here? City residents were being double taxed and now they’re not, that’s how.

While county residents paid 14.652 mills, city residents paid that and an additional, 9.7 or 9.8 mills depending on the year until 2015 when the city millage rate was halved to 4.85 mills and eliminated in 2016. That reduction and eventual elimination cost county coffers almost $22 million.

While residents may be surprised by these numbers, the county’s administration has had this on its radar screen for some time. That’s why it offered early retirements. That move and other efficiencies has seen the county’s workforce fall by about 300 employees.

Looking over the numbers there are several departments that will do with less under the 2018 budget proposal. The Board of Commissioners takes a $69,200 cut. The County Manager, Clerk, Board of Elections, Procurement, Human Resources, Tax Assessors, Small Business Affairs, all will have less money to work with. While Recreation gets a boost of $223,140, Parks and Beautification faces a $519,400 cut. Recreation will have a new Southern Bibb center opening that will need staffing and the improved facilities at the other remodeled centers means more utilization.

Also seeing an increase are the Sheriff’s Office and the Fire Department. Commissioners can lay part of the blame for the Sheriff’s Office increase at the feet of Gov. Deal’s decision to give a well-earned 20 percent raise to state law enforcement officers. That caused dominoes to start falling down to the local level. The starting pay for Georgia State Patrol officers is now $46,422. In order to retain good deputies, local municipalities across the state have had to bring more to the table. The Fire department will see an increase of $814,650 to staff a new East Macon Fire Station. Another combo fire station/sheriff’s precinct is under construction on Napier Avenue.

There’s no salvation in telling taxpayers, although you must, that there hasn’t been a tax increase since before consolidation in 2012, or that the last time the city raised its millage rate was 2005. Taxpayers just want to know how the 3-mill increase will impact them. It’s calculated to cost $99 more per year for a property valued at $100,000.

The mayor also brought a new idea, at least for this area, to the table. It’s another acronym we might have to get used to: OLOST — Optional Local Option Sales Tax. Voters would have to approve it but it would add an additional penny tax and could bring in $30 million annually and with that income the commission could slash the millage rate by 7 mills. How that would impact local business will be a point of debate.

That move, however, is not germane for this discussion. The commission has two basic choices, raise taxes or cut services. If raising taxes is an unacceptable, the hard part is deciding which services to cut — and by how much? We won’t have to wait long, the fiscal 2017 year ends June 30.

This story was originally published May 10, 2017 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Dreaded words every taxpayer hates to hear."