Budget, literacy and Rolling Thunder talking points for Centerville council

CENTERVILLE, Ga. — The city of Centerville had no shortage of topics to discuss during its city council meeting on Tuesday night, from both council and citizen perspectives.

The top talking point, with a public hearing, presentation, and deliberation involved — was the upcoming budget for fiscal year 2024.

The tentative budget increased from last year, totaling $14.9 million. Nearly $6 million comes from the general fund and 8 million from enterprise funds.

Councilman Justin Wright sent a memorandum related to the budget on May 19, writing that budget increases outpace current rates of revenue increase. Wright suggested in the memo changes to public safety line items such as salary increases and new positions.

Wright suggested keeping a 3% merit increase for salaries at the police department, but suggested against an additional 6% increase, saying the budget can be amended for a future pay scale change. For the fire department, Wright suggested against budgeting for two new positions. The positions were justified by additional homes in the area. He suggested waiting for another budget cycle to see if the new houses come to fruition, then adding the new positions.

The reasoning according to the memo, and Wright at the meeting, is to ease the strain on families living with increases in costs and to provide a more balanced budget between revenue and expenditures that is friendlier to the future millage rate.

“I don’t mathematically see a way for us to pass this budget without it compelling us, by law, to increase the tax rate. We’re required by state law to have a balanced budget, we have to account for all this revenue,” Wright said.

Overall, he stressed while every item is important, multiple factors contradict a 12% increase to the budget and the city should consider the current economy and political uncertainty during the planning process. He suggested starting with a more conservative budget, amending as needed if additional needs arise.

“I don’t think any department head put anything in this budget because they thought it would be a neat idea. I think they’re all important, but with the revenue of the city, with the current economy, with the cost of living for everybody right now, while all of these items are important, some of them are not urgent,” Wright said.

Mayor John Harley and Councilman Edward Armijo are on the budget sub-committee this year and responded to Wright at the meeting.

Harley stressed the importance of planning ahead for the future, saying they considered each department’s separate needs. Harley said through this method, they have already reduced the budget by around $260,000. He also said tax rates have typically stayed stable, while the city grows, dropping the millage rate last year.

Harley added that population growth in the city warrants adding more firemen to the fire department.

Armijo also spoke on growth in the city and said the budget is planned carefully and thoughtfully with citizen interest in mind.

“The whole infrastructure of the city needs to grow. I’m not saying we sit back and say ‘go ahead and build it up to the sky.’ We didn’t say that. This was a logical process that was discussed and thought through,” Armijo said.

Councilman J. Micheal Evans spoke before public hearing. With 68% of the general fund going to public safety, Evans stressed the importance of providing safety to citizens.

“I don’t serve the nation, I serve the city. So that’s where I’m going. I think any money that we spend on public safety, whether it’s fire or police, is money well spent. I want this community to be a community that’s safe, that people want to live in,” Evans said, “If I have to spend all the budget to do that, I think the citizens would appreciate that.”

Evans mentioned historically the city has been fiscally responsible and they will continue to do so and provide services.

“We’re going to get through this. We’re going to provide a budget that will meet the needs for our citizens. That’s what we’re going to do. That’s what you expect. You can count on that; take it to the bank,” Evans said.

Also presented during the meeting was a breakdown of the workload already seen by the city, with figures from municipal court, the fire department and public works.

Susan Lemme, a Centerville resident, gave a citizen’s point of view during the meeting, asking council to be transparent with how the money is spent.

“This budget is real great for the accountants, but I’d love it if you present to us: ‘we intend to do “this” with this money. We want to do “this” with the money; we want to do “that” with this money.’ I would accept that a little more willingly, even if it did mean a slight increase,” Lemme said.

Also during the meeting, council gave a proclamation in honor of Rolling Thunder, an organization devoted to honoring veterans and those who are POW/MIA. Several members were present, including Chapter President Kristin Moriarty, who expressed her appreciation to mayor and council for their support and displaying a Chair of Honor at city hall.

“It’s more than just a flag; it’s more than just a chair. It means so much to families to know that [POW/MIAs] are never forgotten,” Moriarty said.

Additionally, Kathy Hart, chairman of the Rotary Club’s literacy program, gave updates about the Read United program, and their efforts to promote learning and reading among children at Centerville Elementary, provide vouchers to help adults take their GED test and promote STEM education at the Museum of Aviation.

After council comments, the meeting was adjourned. A livestream, as well as supporting documents from the June 6 meeting can be found on the city’s Facebook page: “City of Centerville, Georgia- Government”

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