Open Letter to the CoSF City Manager Regarding FY 2023 Budget
Open Letter to City Manager Regarding CoSF FY2023 Budget
Ms. Saddler Jones,
I’ve done everything I could to keep up with the City of South Fulton’s 2023 FY Budget
process. From the departmental budget presentations to Council adoption is lightning
fast and lends itself to very limited taxpayer participation, thus my rush to get my
comments on the record.
Ideally this process should begin shortly after the Mid-Year Budget Review in April so
that straight-line projections can be used to determine whether departments are going
to exceed their budget. With that information Finance can start the budget formulation
process including whether to roll back, maintain or God forbid raise the millage rate.
Departments can begin to look ahead and start formulating their respective budgets for
the next fiscal year as well.
By June/July, Finance should have an idea of what the budget is going to look like. At
that point Council members could start hosting budget feedback sessions for the
taxpayers in their districts. Departments can present their budget wishes and taxpayers
are given the opportunity to be heard on their priorities. This process should not be
Council driven. It should be led by the City Manager and Finance Director. Council
members will have plenty of time to have their say.
Once the taxpayers have given their priorities the city should work to meet those needs.
Clearly everyone is not going to get what they want but they should at least be heard.
On to the FY 2023 Budget… There appears to be a lot of information that isn’t being
presented throughout this process. Fulton Industrial Boulevard (FIB) isn’t being talked
about as much as it should. My best guess based on the limited amount of available
information is FIB will bring in between $15M - $19M netting $4M - $7M. Just guessing
cause there is not a lot of information available.
It's my thought that FIB should be in a standalone fund because of the unpredictable
nature of the economy. Revenue losses on FIB should not be able to reverberate
throughout the city because it’s being treated as a cash cow. Allowing the boulevard to
thrive in its own fund with draw downs for the various services will benefit the city in the
long run. I’m not saying those funds can’t be used by the General Fund. It just should
not be the bell cow.
The July 2022 Expenditure Report was eye opening based on what was presented.
Through ten months of operations only 66% of the budget had been spent. 66%? That
basically equates to eight months of spending, done in ten months. For taxpayers that
should be looked upon as fantastic news because if this process had started in April as
it should the Council would have seen it was unnecessary to maintain the current
millage rate. A squandered opportunity to give the folks that pay the bills a much-
needed tax break.
Knowing the remaining 34% should not be exhausted in August and September the City
should have a healthy reserve going into the FY2023. Again, proof a millage rate
reduction should have taken place. Speaking of reserve or as I’ve come to know it over
the past 30+ years the “fund balance” in the City seems to be a well-kept secret. I
understand it should by Council decree amount to 20.8% of the budget or two and a half
months of expenses. Where can one find that number in the budget documents? With
the fund balance from 2022 the city should now have at least three and a half months or
more of cash on hand.
One of the most intriguing parts of the budget presentation I witnessed was the
inclusion of the $28M of Capital Project Funds in the budget. Let me get this straight,
these are sought after funds that aren’t currently in hand but will be applied for in the
future for various projects. If that is correct why include the numbers in the total budget?
My only answer is it’s being done to boost the total budget figure. It’s my hope these are
somehow GUARANTEED dollars (fingers crossed). That’s a very unusual move that
I’ve never seen.
The City’s budget process appears to be a free for all in that Mayor/Council and
department wishes are granted with very little if any vetting. The departmental budget
presentations is too late in the process to start vetting by the Council. In my career I’ve
taken part in 30+ years of budget preparation that had required months of discussions
and deep vetting of every red cent before the budget commission/committee approved
the request. From my vantage point it appears the wishes of the Mayor/Council and
departments are being granted with very little knowledge by the taxpayers. Someone
should be on our side, the taxpayers and pose the tough questions and stop the
spending free for all. A budget committee including the Mayor, City Manager and
Finance Director should be established to vet all budget requests including those from
the Council. I realize the tensions between the Mayor and Council will likely make this
untenable.
The Public Safety budgets also caught my eye. Realizing the Fire Union just received a
new contract I’m very curious as to how the Fire Rescue budget has caught up with the
Police Department budget. Police has 258 budgeted positions with just over $17M in
salary/benefits costs meanwhile, Fire has 192, 66 fewer budgeted positions costing
close to $19M! How is that possible? What am I missing?
Finally, I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to put $500K contingency slush fund on the table
for Mayor/Council for “special projects”. Again money that could go back to the
taxpayers.
Thank you
James Reese
South Fulton, GA 30349
cc: Mayor khalid kamau
Councilwoman Catherine Rowell, District 1
Councilwoman Carmalitha Gumbs, District 2
Councilwoman Helen Willis, District 3
Councilman Jaceey Sebastian, District 4
Councilman Corey Reeves, District 5
Councilwoman Natasha Williams, District 6
Karen Slaton-Dixon, Finance Director
Corey Adams, City Clerk
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