Comparing proposed City of East Cobb finances to Cobb, North Fulton cities

We’re still waiting to hear back about the work of the East Cobb cityhood financial committee (we were told in late June it would be “a few weeks.”)

In the meantime, we pulled the latest budget and financial information we could find for similar municipalities in Cobb, and in particular, some of the newer cities in North Fulton.

The seven cities we looked at all provide more than what’s being proposed now in the East Cobb cityhood legislation—a state-mandated minimum of three services, in this case police, fire and community development.

While it’s possible a proposed City of East Cobb, should it come to pass, could add services as some others have, for now its “independent” financial committee is limiting its work to those three called for in the bill.

The audit group is scouring through a Georgia State University study released in December that declared the proposed City of East Cobb “financially feasible” with annual revenues of around $49.5 million and a nearly $4 million surplus to start.

The goal of the finance committee, cityhood leader Rob Eble said last month, is to come up with a workable budget. So those numbers are likely to change, perhaps a good bit, especially if the proposed city boundary lines are altered.

Eble told us last month the cityhood group wants to have a town hall meeting in August or once the financial work is complete.

Modeling after Milton

One of the cities the East Cobb group has referenced in its public statements as a model is Milton, the northernmost municipality in Fulton County, and which voted to incorporate in 2006.

It offered police, fire and community development to start, and has added public works and parks and recreation.

Milton’s population of just under 40,000 is less than half of what’s being proposed for East Cobb now, but it’s affluent with similar demographics, per capita income and median home values, as well as public school rankings.

Milton’s current fiscal year 2019 budget of $29.2 million is calculated on a millage rate of 4.39, which has held steady since the city began.

That’s one of the talking points made by East Cobb cityhood leaders, who’ve said in town hall meetings this spring that property taxes wouldn’t be higher than what’s currently levied in unincorporated Cobb.

While some East Cobb cityhood skeptics are dubious about the claim to hold the line at 2.96 mills, Milton’s been able to make major capital improvements due to bond issues. After leasing office space for more than a decade, a city hall building opened in 2017, funded with a $10 million bond issue approved by Milton voters.

The two-story building includes event space and is located near a three-story mixed-use development, featuring shops, restaurants and high-end townhomes, in the historic Crabapple district.

Later this week, Milton officials will be breaking ground on a $14.8 million public safety and municipal court complex to be funded through revenue bonds.

For now, possible City of East Cobb plans would be to purchase and utilize the East Cobb Government Service Center on Lower Roswell Road. The facility houses Cobb Police Precinct 4 headquarters and Cobb Fire Station 20, as well as a Cobb Tax Commissioner satellite office.

But there’s nothing in the proposed charter referencing where a city hall and municipal court may be located.

Linked below are the latest budget documents for six other cities in Cobb and North Fulton. Sandy Springs and Johns Creek also came into being in 2006; the others are decades-old cities that have offered a variety of services for many years.

That’s especially the case in Marietta, whose overall budget of $331 million includes its operations of the Marietta Board of Lights and Water (expected 2020 revenues of $168 million). That overall figure, plus the general fund budget and millage rate, are both included in the table below.

Community leaders in Mableton have had a bill filed in the legislature, similar to East Cobb’s. That municipality would have a population near 90,000, with proposed services including community development, but not police and fire.

The South Cobb Alliance group pushing Mableton cityhood is still raising money to fund a required financial feasibility study.

• Alpharetta 2020 budget
• Johns Creek 2019 budget
• Marietta 2020 budget
• Roswell 2019 budget
• Sandy Springs 19-20 budget
• Smyrna 2020 budget

Cobb-North Fulton City Budget Comparison

Abbrevations:

• CD: Community Development (Planning/Zoning, Code Enforcement, Fees/Licensing)
• PR: Parks and Recreation
• PW: Public Works (Electricity, Sanitation, Stormwater Management, Transportation, Water and Sewer)

Sources:

• City budget documents, U.S. Census, City-Data.com

East Cobb News Cityhood Coverage

• ‘Independent’ group auditing finances, building budget
• Cityhood budget, taxes discussed at Powers Ferry forum
• Defining and redrawing the East Cobb city map
• How many police officers would a City of East Cobb need?
• Cityhood leaders press case for “more local control”
• More East Cobb Cityhood news and information

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!