Mayor Kelly Girtz submitted a $194 million budget for 2025 to the Athens-Clarke County Commission last week that is 3.7% higher than the current year but includes few new initiatives.
Much of the $7 million in new spending Girtz is proposing would go toward raises for county employees. Like many governments, ACC has struggled in recent years to hire and retain employees as pay has fallen behind the private sector. Girtz’s budget includes 4% raises for all employees, as well as additional funding for public safety employees and police overtime. In addition, the county is covering increased costs for insurance and pensions.
Girtz’s proposal also includes $1 million for a housing “strike fund” recommended by last year’s affordable housing study. The fund would allow the county to buy an apartment complex or other properties that come on the market and turn them into permanently low-cost housing. However, that’s well short of the $3.3 million in new local funding the study recommended annually.
He also included $500,000 to continue an alternative response team that pairs police officers with social workers to respond to calls involving mental health. Manager Blaine Williams had said he would recommend canceling the program when he submitted his budget plan to Girtz.
While Girtz recommended keeping the property tax rate steady at 12.45 mills, many property owners will see higher tax bills because property values rose an average of 7% last year. That means the owner of a $350,000 home will pay $95 more, on average.
Legal ads local governments are required by the state to run are misleadingly worded—the budget does not include a higher property tax rate. The ads list a “rollback rate” of 11.6 mills, which is what ACC would have to charge to raise the same amount of revenue as last year, when accounting for higher property values. In addition, owner-occupied homeowners will benefit from a higher homestead exemption of $25,000 that more than doubled in 2023.
Commissioners will hold budget hearings throughout May before voting on the budget June 4. The public has three opportunities to give input before the vote: Thursday, May 9 at 5:30 p.m. at 120 Dougherty St.; Tuesday, May 14 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall; and Tuesday, May 21 at 6 p.m. at City Hall. The budget takes effect July 1.
School Board May Cut Taxes
The Clarke County Board of Education will vote this week on a $236 million 2025 budget, up $18 million over this year, and is considering a slight property tax reduction.
Chief Financial Officer Chris Griner projects $232 million in revenue for the coming fiscal year, which starts July 1. That includes $86 million in state Quality Basic Education funding and $133 million in property tax revenue. The tax digest—the total value of all the property in the county—rose 8% last year, partially from new construction but mostly because property values increased. However, they rose at a slower clip than 2022, as higher interest rates have cooled the real estate market.
The district has $55 million in reserves, and Griner recommended dipping into that fund balance, using $4 million to cover initiatives currently funded by expiring federal COVID funds and another $4 million to lower the property tax rate by a quarter mill. The millage rate is currently 18.8, or $18.80 for every $1,000 of assessed property value.
“As [American Rescue Plan Act] funding has been used for different things, we’ve been able to build up a decent fund balance,” Griner told the school board last month. “Now is an opportunity we can take to use some of that fund balance to continue some initiatives in the district.”
The budget includes state-funded $2,500 raises for teachers, and administrators are recommending locally funded $1,250 raises for other personnel. Instead of cutting the tax rate, board member Tim Denson suggested larger raises for classified (non-teacher) employees.
This year, the state legislature funded $45,000 grants for additional security at each school. Among the new positions in the budget are four unarmed security guards, one each at Clarke Middle School, Clarke Central High School, Cedar Shoals High School and the Learning Center, an alternative middle and high school. The board is also considering hiring additional parapros at elementary schools, five Learning Center teachers, high school counselors and site managers for the Communities in Schools program.
In addition to teacher raises, the state is also providing additional funding for transportation. Last year CCSD received just $1.3 million but spent more than $9 million on school buses, Griner said.
A preliminary vote on the budget is scheduled for May 9, with final approval in June.
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