The Macon-Bibb County Board of Commission does hereby announce that the millage rate will be set at a meeting in Commission Chambers at the Government Center located at 700 Poplar Street, Macon, Georgia on August 18, 2015, at 6:00 P.M., and pursuant to the requirements of O.C.G.A. 48-5-32 does hereby publish the following presentation of the current year’s tax digest and levy, along with the history of the tax digest and levy for the past five years.
On Tuesday, June 16, the Macon-Bibb County Commission approved the Fiscal Year 2016 budget, which runs from July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2015. This is a $147,640,000 budget that was built on the goals, focus areas, and projects identified through our first Strategic Plan, and it includes:
- Full implementation of the new pay scale;
- Capital Improvement program prioritized through Strategic Plan;
- Elimination of double taxation by reducing the millage rate for residents of the former city; and
- Keeps millage rate for former unincorporated county the same.
To view the Mayor’s presentation, click here.
Residents in the former city limits, if this millage rate is approved, will see a tax reduction of 4.85 mills; for a $100,000 house, that is a savings of almost $200. This will complete one of the promises of consolidation: to have a single, countywide millage rate. Since the property value has slightly decreased, Macon-Bibb would need to set a millage rate of 14.834 in order to collect the same revenue as last year’s 14.652 millage rate. The Mayor and Commission will be voting on a 14.652 rate, which would mean a reduction in revenue of approximately $700,000.
Driving this year’s budget was the creation of Macon-Bibb’s first Strategic Plan. For 14 months, the Commission, senior leadership, and department heads worked to develop the Plan, and it was used to set budget priorities in five Focus Areas:
- Economic and Community Development;
- Safe Neighborhoods and Safe Communities;
- Efficient and Effective Government;
- Infrastructure Improvement; and
- Quality of Life.
The strategic planning process was funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundations and facilitated by the University of Georgia Carl Vinson Institute of Government.
To view a copy of the Strategic Plan, click here.
The proposed budget is $147,640,000, 60% of which is funding Public Safety, including the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office, Fire Department, Emergency Management Agency, Animal Welfare, and the Courts. The proposed budget is about the same as the expenditures of the combined city and county governments from fiscal year 2012, Mayor Reichert pointed out. While it will be tough year, he said, it is a level of funding which we have operated at before.
To view the budget, click here.
Though the consolidated charter mandates a 5% annual budget reduction, the elimination of the former city millage rate means the budget is 15% smaller than the combined city and county governments. This means Macon-Bibb County is ahead of schedule in reducing the size of government.