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Politics & Government

Council Approves 2011-2012 FY Budgets

The operating and SPLOST budgets are adopted.

The approved proposals for both the 2011-2012 fiscal year operating and Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) budgets at a City Hall meeting Monday evening.

The general fund operating revenue for the 2011-2012 fiscal year is set at $17,830,771.

Kennesaw Finance Director Gina Auld briefly spoke about what the recently adopted budgets entail. She said that general revenue had fallen six percent since last year, due in part to a decrease in tax revenue for the 2010-2011 fiscal year. Auld expects the city to generate roughly $12.7 million in the upcoming fiscal year via tax revenue, which represents about 71 percent of Kennesaw’s operating revenue stream.

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Auld said that personal services expenditures are expected to consume $9.7 million, or about 62 percent, of the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. She also said that she expects spending for public safety and administration to take up well over half of departmental expenditures for the 2011-2012 budget.

Auld said that she expects income generated from special revenue funding, such as cemetery trusts and hotel and motel taxes, to mildly increase in 2012. With revenue stemming from “transfers in future years,” Auld believes that capital projects fund revenues will ultimately lead to $48.5 million in income for the city.

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Auld said that Kennesaw is currently on track for a SPLOST revenue of approximately $28.5 million. Projects currently lined up for widening of Cherokee Street and roadwork on Pine Mountain Road at U.S. 41 are priced at around $6 million each, while $2 million each is being set aside for projects on Stanley Collins Road and Old Highway 41.

Auld said that about $1.4 million of the 2011-2012 fiscal year budget will go towards the city’s debt service funds. She stated that she expects enterprise expenditures to be cancelled out by the revenue generated from funding those same services in 2012. While the city is expected to spend $2 million on sanitation costs, Auld states that revenue generated from service charges should easily top $2.5 million in the upcoming fiscal year.

“All of our department heads have done an unbelievable job of squeezing this budget and making it work,” said Mayor Pro-Tem Bill Thrash. “We’ve had no layoffs, no furloughs and we’ve been able to maintain the same level of service without six percent of the revenue that we had last year.”

“We started making cuts into the budget four years ago in anticipation of the reduction in revenue that didn’t start until two years ago,” said Kennesaw Mayor Mark Matthews. “We’re not out of the woods yet. I think we have a few more years of declining revenue before we get back to any type of normal revenue streams that we can rely on.”

The city council approved both the Operating and the Capital Improvement and Special Purpose Local Only Sales Tax budgets by votes of 5-0.

The council also considered an ordinance that would increase license fee amounts from $75 to $100 due to a population increase detailed in the 2010 census. A second hearing on the proposed amendment will take place on Oct. 3.

The council voted 4-1, with Bruce Jenkins opposed, to authorize an ordinance amendment that would allow a located at the intersection of Kennesaw Due West Road and Cobb Parkway to sell guns, knives and other weapons. The amendment repeals condition 16(h) of Ordinance 2007-18, which barred retailers and businesses from selling firearms in the zoned area.

The city council also honored , a theater teacher at , who was recently named the Cobb County 2011-2012 Teacher of the Year.

Before the council meeting, personnel Dr. Laura Wachniak, William Wallace and Evelyn Campbell were all presented with proclamations for their efforts in coordinating events to raise the awareness of homelessness in the Cobb County area. The council declared Oct. 10-15 “Homeless Awareness Week,” stating that “the City recognizes the public educational opportunity provided by Kennesaw State University to increase awareness of the nationwide problem.”

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