Canton Budget Funds Restrooms at Parks, Street Paving

CANTON, GA -- The proposed fiscal year 2017 budget for the city of Canton has been unveiled, and some property owners could see a tax decrease.

The City Council on Thursday held the first reading of its $36.9 million budget, which is a 2.7 percent reduction from the current 2016 budget.

City Manager Billy Peppers said the balanced budget also reflects a cut -- not a rollback -- in the city's millage rate as well as the city's stormwater rate. If approved, the millage rate would drop from 5.85 mills to 5.6 mils. For property owners, this would mean a reduction in their city property tax bill if their assessment remained the same.

Over the last three fiscal years, Canton has reduced its millage rate by 17.6 percent, the city manager said.

Included in this year's budget is $1.5 million in repaving projects. Peppers also noted the budget accounts for various projects related to water and sewer, specifically creating a master plan for the systems.

That plan, he added will allow the city to determine the needs for the system and "what we need to be planning from a capital standpoint.”

Other projects funded in the budget include backup firearms for the police department, and using impact fees to build restrooms at Boling and Heritage parks as well as parking improvements at Heritage Park.

The budget is expected to be adopted at the City Council's Sept. 1 meeting. You can review the fiscal year 2017 budget by clicking here.

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