WALTHOURVILLE – Walthourville City Council members want to hear what their accountant has to say before taking action on their budget – and possibly enacting a property tax.
Council members will meet with Matthew Caines, a CPA with Caines Hodges, to look at where they can cut their budget and how they can add revenue at a special called meeting October 24.
Pam Helton, director of member services for the Georgia Municipal Association, told council members at their October 10 meeting that their revenues weren’t keeping pace with their expenses.
The city, in all its funds, was over budget by almost $700,000 for last year, Helton said, while this year’s budget gap won’t be as big, the trend is concerning.
“This year, you’re heading in the same direction,” she said. “The City of Walthourville does not have the reserves to carry them over with a fund balance like they have in the past. Walthourville needs to make some decisions about how they are going to move forward with making sure they have the revenue to support their expenses. We can only do so much with the normal revenue sources.”
Walthourville does not have a millage rate, and not having one also eliminates other revenue sources, such as intangible taxes, mobile home taxes, vehicle taxes and taxes on railroad equipment, Helton said.
Even setting a gross millage rate, and then rolling it back to zero, may allow the city to pursue some of those revenue streams, she said.
Helton said the city needed about $300,000 and suggested setting a millage rate of 3 mills.
If the city chooses to adopt a millage rate, it would require three public hearings.
“This will allow you the opportunity to survive without cutting some of the services your residents expect you to provide,” Helton said. “Your expenses keep going up, but your revenue is staying the same, and you cannot live like that. You would be doing a disservice to your community by allowing this to continue. You’ve got to make some changes.”
Helton recommended the city look at what charges for services and to make those charges cover the expenses of those services. She also recommended having the Georgia Rural Water Association take a look at the rates the city is charging for water and sewer.
She also warned that the city may not be able to replace some of its infrastructure in case of a crisis or failure.
“There are grants but you have to have some sort of a match. I don’t know that your revenues are supporting your expenditures in your fund,” Helton said. “You need to start planning now or you’re going to be a sinking ship. You have to make sure you are protecting citizens and protecting your infrastructure so that when the time comes you need something, you have it. You need to be putting away for that water-sewer infrastructure. You really can’t ignore this. If you ignore it, you’re going to regret it later.”
Helton added that the city’s fire department budget is high but there are no other revenues coming in to offset its cost, and there are few revenues to offset the cost of the police department and its large budget.
City attorney Luke Moses told council members that the city, in comparison to other cities its size, has fewer services and brings in less revenue. The 2020 Census put Walthourville’s population at 3,680.
Moses pointed out that Warthen in Warren County has a per capita income of half of Walthourville’s but has a millage rate of almost 19 mills.
Council members, though, wondered if there was enough time to let the residents know a millage rate might be coming and if they can afford it.
“Ride around Walthourville – see the trailer parks and dilapidated houses, and you know people are struggling,” Hayes said. “I know we need to do something.”
“We’ve got to do something to generate revenue,” added Council member Charlie Anderson. “We know the city is growing.”
Hayes said she has heard from residents, who have been “blowing up” her phone and email asking about a potential property tax.
“I want us to be cognizant of what we are doing and exhaust all avenues,” she said.
Council member Bridgette Kelly added that adopting a millage rate in two weeks is “rushing it,” she said, and wanted the city to let know its residents how adopting a millage rate would work.
Moses said 3 mills of property tax may generate about $160,000 in revenue for the city, and he said Caines indicated 9 mills might be a good start and that a fire fee may need to be implemented.
Moses pointed out the council recently approved a rezoning for a development that could bring in revenue through tap fees, but he also cautioned it is not a good idea to rely on those proceeds for the city’s general fund. Moses said he asked the question of the accountant what alternatives the city might have.
“He said ‘y’all have a spending problem and a revenue problem.’ That’s his opinion,” Moses said.
The city is growing, Moses said, and expenses have increased, and revenue sources have remained the same.
“The situation is not dire yet financially,” he said. “But is about to be.”
Moses said Caines put together a budget that anticipated a fire fee being put in place and expenses to be cut. But no fire fee is in place, expenditures have not been cut and no new source of revenue has been identified, Moses reminded council members.
“Therefore, we face a shortfall,” he said.
Moses also told council members the city may have to take out a shortterm loan to bridge its budget gap.
With the city council chambers at the police department limited to just a dozen members of the audience, council members also weighed moving their Monday meeting to a larger venue, such as the fire department’s bays, to accommodate a crowd.