Cobb Millage Debate over Life Quality

The Cobb County Board of Commissioners is holding the second of three hearings on the today at 6 p.m. at 100 Cherokee St. During the first hearing this morning, speakers were closely divided on whether to raise the rate from a total of 9.6 mills to 11.21 mills for the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30. That change would add an average of $111.66 to the county tax bill for homes worth $190,000 to $210,000. People on both sides said Cobb's quality of life is at stake. We're covering the hearing live on Twitter at SouthCobbPatch and collecting the tweets here for further comment.

Most of the dozens of speakers at Tuesday night's second hearing on the proposed millage rate increase in Cobb County took one of two directions:

• The county can't afford to cut any more services without ruining the quality of life here and driving people away.
• The county can't afford to raise taxes without ruining the quality of life here and driving people away.

Heavy in attendance were families involved in the Special Olympics program, who generally supported a millage rate increase to protect the programs that are vital to them.

On the other side, many speakers warned that in these tough economic times, even an increased expense of $10 a month could push people over the economic edge and cost them their homes.

It was a hearing packed with emotional moments, such as Special Olympian Candice Fitzgerald, who warned the commissioners that she'll be 18 and voting next year, and Cobb Taxpayers Association head Lance Lamberton, who talked about his humbling, near-minimum-wage circumstances and his inability to afford any tax increase.

It was also a night that revealed plenty of confusion about the financial situation of Cobb County, which is in the process of setting the millage rate for fiscal 2011, which ends Sept. 30, but is doing so with eyes on a projected deficit of nearly $33 million for fiscal 2012, which starts Oct. 1.

And it all could be repeated one week from tonight when the commissioners hold their third and final millage rate hearing at 7 p.m., then act on the rate during their regular meeting.

8:30 p.m. The hearing is adjourned.

8:29 p.m. Mr. Howard: "We have to live within our means, and I think the county should do the same."

8:28 p.m. A self-employed speaker says no one tonight has spoken for the self-employed: "You were elected not to raise taxes. ... The economy is bad. We're making it on shoestrings. Please do not raise my taxes." He offers to let all the people calling for a tax increase to take his share of the higher millage rate.

8:26 p.m. Speaker Searcy: "You make us feel bad ... because you're always in our wallets."

8:20 p.m. A speaker from Commissioner Helen Goreham's district says her heart goes out to all of the special-needs families who have spoken, but she is absolutely against a millage rate increase. Speaker: "We are taxed to death. We don't need beauty right now. We need food on the table." There are plenty of places to cut, she says. "I know you can find the money. I know you can live on what you have."

8:18 p.m. Dr. Bill Hudson does not support the millage increase. A handful of speakers following him do. Many are Special Olympics parents.

8:04 p.m. Dr. Michael Rhett of South Cobb: We ask you to vote yes to support our recreation centers, arts and libraries.

8:02 p.m. Speaker: I may have to go bankrupt if you raise my taxes.

7:57 p.m. New speaker: "I think it's a sin that you steal from seniors." He says he'll support an increase if he has to so he can spend time w his friends at .

7:54 p.m. Cindy Coates says no one has spoken on behalf of parents with kids in private school or home school. She teaches kids that "it's not government's job to make everyone happy." It's not up to government to provide sports for me, she adds. She says anyone can use her neighborhood's tennis courts and pool if that's what it takes to save money and avoid a tax increase. She asks the commissioners not to raise taxes.

7:48 p.m. C. Barber Paige, a South Cobb resident: "I don't want in my lifetime to have to address this issue again. ... Let's roll back the millage rate."

7:46 p.m. Bittner: "In tough times, people tighten their belts. Why can't government?" This isn't a recent problem.

7:45 p.m. Bittner wants to address the "false choice of higher property taxes or cuts to public safety." Higher property taxes affect the quality of life, he says.

7:43 p.m. Brett Bittner of the Cobb Taxpayers Association is now speaking on his own behalf.

7:42 p.m. Robin Meyer of the Mableton Improvement Coalition is speaking on her personal behalf. "I do not want to live in a community with closed libraries or closed senior centers. ... We need to protect our workforce."

7:41 p.m. Another Special Olympics participant asks the commissioners to support the millage rate increase.

7:40 p.m. The speaker tells Lee he is "increasing questions and decreasing clarity." The speaker runs out of time.

7:37 p.m. Lee: We took one-time cuts in April. In 2012, we will have to repay the amount taken from reserves to balance 2011. We anticipate an additional decrease in the tax digest. Altogether, the projection is for a $20 million deficit for the general fund, $10 million for the fire fund and $2.5 million for the debt service fund. "If we don't make permanent cuts," Lee says, "that $30 million deficit will be recurring each year." He says the digest might turn around in 2014-15 by 2 percent.

7:32 p.m. Speaker: "The public was led to believe you addressed the deficit in April; that was three months ago." Lee tries to explain that there is confusion over the cuts made in April to balance the 2011 budget, which ends Sept. 30, and the projected $33 million deficit for fiscal 2012, which starts Oct. 1.

7:23 p.m. Fitzgerald: "If you take away the transportation, you will be taking away our freedom." She adds: "I will be 18 next year, and I will be voting."

7:22 p.m. Candice Fitzgerald has been in Special Olympics for one year. "I don't look at my disability and I don't look at theirs. I just look at them as normal people. Raising the millage rate will allow my friends and I the great opportunities to give back to the community."

7:20 p.m. Kim Watson coaches Special Olympics. "Please consider the effects eliminating" transportation, Special Olympics, and parks and recreation programs will have, she says.

7:19 p.m. Danny Pagett: "I know we have some additional revenue in our county. ... I'll support a millage rate increase if we have to."

7:17 p.m. Robin Flake, with daughter Michelle, a Special Olympics participant, asks commissioners to "please consider not cutting needs of special-needs populations."

7:14 p.m. Barry Griffith moved to Cobb in 1987 mostly because its "special-populations programs are excellent. ... If you start cutting facilities, we've got some problems." These programs have helped keep some of these kids out of jail, Griffith says.

7:10 p.m. Next speaker: For those with spouses out of work, $130 more a year could be detrimental. "I'm really fed up with tax increases all over the place."

7:07 p.m. A Cobb County Soccer Council representative says he supports the millage rate increase. In the past, county has matched fees through a grant program. However, this last year, the county could not match the soccer organization's fees, the speaker says. "We do not want Cobb County players to go to other counties and then spend money there. ... Please vote yes for the increase."

7:06 p.m. Mr. Obitts is against the increase. "We did not elect you to increase our taxes. ... We are very disappointed that this is even the time you would consider an increase." It's not good management, he says.

7:05 p.m. She has calculated how much more she will have to pay if the increase is approved to be 30 cents per day. She urges commissioners to approve the millage increase.

7:03 p.m. The next speaker says 30,000 visitors came to the Mable House complex last year, and this year it's on track to have even more visitors.

7:02 p.m. Speaker Stanton says Rose Wing, in arguing for the Cobb SPLOST this spring, said that if SPLOST was not passed, the millage rate would have to be raised and "babies would die." And now the millage rate might be raised anyway.

7 p.m. The next speaker says criminals would have more access to Cobb County with the implementation of a rail system and that "gangs are already sneaking in."

6:58 p.m. Gettinger: "Please stop drinking the smart growth Kool-Aid." She asks the commissioners to vote against raising the millage rate.

6:57 p.m. Gettinger: Cobb residents will flee to less urban counties if the commissioners continue to spend money on sustainable development.

6:55 p.m. Patty Gettinger: "It's becoming less attractive to live here." She says she has lost confidence in the commissioners' ability to manage money.

6:51 p.m. Story suggests reducing library operations, but "we certainly do not need any more furloughs of policemen."

6:50 p.m. Another speaker, Helen Story, suggests the "temporary elimination of services," such as cutting senior services to three days per week and privatizing parks and recreation.

6:44 p.m. The county clerk cuts off the video after about four minutes, questioning whether it has any relevance to the millage rate. The women say it relates to next year's transportation SPLOST vote and other taxes. Lee: We'd like to focus on millage rate issues, not the transportation SPLOST.

6:43 p.m. Three women present a video about the United Nations' sustainable development initiatives. They say those plans would hurt property values. They are against the millage increase.

6:41 p.m. Mestre: I hope it's not my neighborhood.

6:40 p.m. Mestre: "This is not gloom and doom. This is happening now. ... Whose neighborhood are we gonna not staff with public safety personnel?"

6:40 p.m. Mestre: "There is not any citizen in this county who can afford any decrease in response time" from public safety personnel.

6:39 p.m. Sgt. Jorge Mestre, the president of the Kermit Sanders Lodge 13 of the Fraternal Order of Police, supports increasing the millage rate in order to ensure there are no more cuts or furloughs for public safety personnel.

6:37 p.m. Barbara Williams, the third speaker: She thanks Commissioner JoAnn Birrell for being the only commissioner to respond to her emails. "Any cutbacks or closures will not make me a happy senior citizen. I support revised use of my tax money." She supports increasing the millage rate.

6:33 p.m. Second speaker Reginal Oce: He's a member of Alpha Kappa Psi fraternity who helps and mentors young boys and is pleading for the Fair Oaks Recreation Center to stay open.

6:33 p.m. Levin: "What are you going to do on the day something happens to you and that station's closed?"

6:32 p.m. First speaker Lisa Levin: What about a $5 entrance or parking fee for parks? She is concerned about "the safety of people who live in this county."

6:29 p.m. The floor is being opened for public comments.

6:27 p.m. Lee: "There's no hocus-pocus. There's no smoke and mirrors." The $33 million projected deficit for fiscal 2012, which starts Oct. 1, is the combined shortfall of the three different funds.

6:23 p.m. Lee: We are eliminating 65 vacant positions from the budget. The other 100 unfilled positions on the books are public safety positions.

6:21 p.m. Lee: The article's discussion about the hiring freeze is just an "unfair characterization. ... Most of the people who have been hired during this 'hiring freeze' have been for public safety. ... We've reduced overtime by over 60 percent since '08."

6:19 p.m. Lee: We have made significant changes to our health care plan over the years. To say that we haven't done anything is just not true.

6:19 p.m. Lee: "We have a good relationship with the oversight committee." We are already acting on some of the recommendations of their progress.

6:18 p.m. Lee: We are getting plenty of feedback from individuals on both sides of this issue.

6:17 p.m. Lee: I want to clarify some issues we have with an article that ran recently in MDJ.

6:15 p.m. Commission Chairman Tim Lee: We clearly need to find out where our tax digest is going to end up. He's going through a variety of background information and now is responding to an article that ran in the Marietta Daily Journal, just as he did this morning.

6:13 p.m. If the millage rate is increased, it would still be 51 percent lower than the rate for the Fulton County portion of Atlanta and 46 percent lower than the DeKalb County portion of Atlanta, Pehrson shows.

6:11 p.m. If the millage rate increases, a home with an assessed value of $140,000 to $160,000 would pay an average tax increase of about $83 per year.

6:08 p.m. The 2011 general fund digest is $29.7 billion, and in 2010 it was $31.4 billion. That's a decline of 5.47 percent.

6:04 p.m. Hello! We're live at the second Cobb County millage rate public hearing. It's a standing-room-only crowd, and the list of speakers grows. The hearing is starting with the same presentation from Finance Director Jim Pehrson that we saw during this morning's hearing.

Even though the gross tax digest is down 5.47 percent in 2011 from 2010, the net digest is down only 3.81 percent because of the effects of the floating homestead exemption.

The tax digest for the fire fund is down 4.83 percent gross and 4.9 percent net.

The tax digest for the debt service fund is the same as for the general fund, but without the floating homestead exemption. So the net decrease in the digest for the debt service fund is 5.01 percent.

Even if the commissioners enact the millage rate increase, Cobb County will have the lowest property tax rate in metro Atlanta, including 15 percent lower than Gwinnett County's rate.