Final Cobb Budget Public Hearing is Tuesday

Cobb County residents who wish to share their comments or concerns on the county’s fiscal year 2015 have one final opportunity to do so in advance of the Cobb County Board of Commissioners’ Aug. 26 vote to adopt the budget.

The final public hearing for the budget will be held on Aug. 26 at 1:30 p.m. at the Cobb County Board of Commissioners’ meeting room inside the county administration building at 100 Cherokee Street in Marietta Square. The commissioners will vote on the budget during their regular meeting, which will be held at the same location at 7 p.m.

According to the county’s budget figures, the county will receive and spend exactly $763,709,388 during fiscal year 2015. The county’s budget has increased by 2.76 percent from fiscal year 2014 figures, allowing the county to provide a 3 percent merit-based raise for salaried county employees.

County staff recommend that the county hire 35 new employees, including three new police captains. The police department’s budget has also seen a 5.75 percent increase to $57,741,101. The increased funding is part of a program designed to help improve officer retention and create a fully staffed department by 2017.

Due to a stronger tax base, the millage rate has been left alone yet the county will take in approximately $4.5 million more than it did with the same millage rate from fiscal year 2014.

Expenditures for the county’s general fund will match the fund’s revenues despite the elimination of spending for capital projects and a 69 percent reduction in debt service payments in the general fund. Additional payments have been provisioned for the contingency fund to make up for the spending reductions in other areas of the general fund.

East Cobb residents can e-mail Commissioner Bob Ott at bob.ott@cobbcounty.org in advance of the Aug. 26 meeting.