Politics & Government

City Council Approves $47.5M Budget

Marietta's general operating budget for fiscal 2012 comes in less than the current year with no staff cuts or furloughs or millage increases but also no raises.

The Marietta City Council Wednesday night unanimously approved a balanced budget for the upcoming fiscal year that comes with no staff cuts, furloughs or millage increases but also with no raises or significant expansion of city services.

The vote came after six months of work in the city budget office as well as a series of public hearings, the being held on June 1.

Going into the recession nearly three years ago, Marietta took a number of preemptive steps including a hiring freeze, cutting the city's capital funds which purchase equipment and vehicles and securing more grants.

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"City employees have worked hard the last three years to save the taxpayers money," said Bill Bruton, Marietta’s city manager. "I appreciate employees quickly responding to the recession and reducing costs to prevent an additional tax burden on the public."

As a result, the city has not had to raise its millage rate—currently 2.788—nor had to resort to layoffs or massive budget cuts.

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Regardless, the city does not rely heavily on property taxes. Only about 20 percent of the budget comes from those sources. The $11.5 million the city expects to earn from its own utility company, Marietta Power, lowers the city’s millage rate by about 4.5 mills.

The general fund budget is $47.5 million, while the total of all city funds is a little more than $270 million. The city currently maintains an undesignated reserve balance of about $12 million. City budget officials say the city can expect to close the current fiscal year on June 30 with a positive balance of $300,000 due to cuts city departments made in the middle of the year to save money.

"This is a conservative budget that cuts departmental expenses where it does not affect service levels," budget manager Lori Duncan said. "The budget is tighter than last year and the departments are operating with less money and fewer employees.

"The city's FY2012 general fund budget is 1.1 percent or approximately $500,000 less than the FY2011 budget," she said.

Marietta's general fund budget budget, which funds the day-to-day operations of the city, includes police and fire services, parks and recreation programs, streets and public works maintenance.

As part of the budget, the city’s fire department with 135 employees will operate with an $11.11 million budget, down from $11.19 million. The police department, with about 175 employees will have a $13.49 million budget about the same as this year.


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