City of Albany sets public hearing on proposed $320.5 million budget for Tuesday

ALBANY – Albany residents have a chance to weigh in Tuesday on the city’s proposed 2024-2025 budget, a proposal that includes tax increases for property owners when tax bills arrive in the fall.

Tentatively, the Albany City Commission is looking at an increase of 1.444 mills, which would bring the effective millage rate up to 10.762. In effect, that would increase the taxes on a $150,000 home by $68.64 per year, interim Albany CFO Michael Eaton said.

The reason for the increase is to pay for across-the-board salary increases approved by commissioners last year to implement the recommendations contained in a pay study.

“That’s kind of what we built that millage rate around,” Eaton said. “It’s like we told the commission, it’s going to be in there to pay for the pay study.”

The city’s overall proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins on July 1 is $320.51 million, up from the $316.85 million budgeted for the 2023-2024 budget year.

Utility rates also are set to increase, and those rates have been approved by the Albany Utility Board, Commissioner Chad Warbington said. The increase in the millage increase comes after commissioners rolled back the millage rate each of the previous 10 years.

“This is one year we’re going to increase our property tax and increase our utility rates,” he said. “It was inevitable at some point the streak would end. There had been no utility increase for seven years.”

For utility rates, the city is looking at a 3.7% increase that matches the rate of the consumer price index increase for solid waste, stormwater, water and natural gas, interim City Manager Derrick Brown said.

For the average-use customer, that will mean a monthly increase of 27 cents for stormwater charges, $1.05 for water, $1.44 for solid waste and 66 cents per month for gas.

Electric rates are slated to increase by 5%, which would cost the average user an estimated an extra $5.25 per month.

The sewer rate is tied to a 10-year plan of improvements related to the city’s sewage/stormwater separation project and other system improvements, and is expected to increase by 6.5%. That represents an average increase of $2.03, Brown said.

The increase for electricity is solely to match the increase by an equal amount to the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia, of which Albany is a member, Eaton said.

While customers will not be happy about any increase, Warbington said that customers of other cities and Georgia Power Co. are facing increases of 8%, 10% or even 12%.

“Any time you raise prices, whether it’s in the public sector or the private sector, you’re going to have complaints,” he said. “We’ve just got to explain it where people can understand it. There are reasons for having an increase in all of that.”

When it increased employee pay, commissioners knew at the time it meant a property tax increase, Commissioner Jon Howard said.

“We knew it was coming,” he said. “We knew we would have to raise the millage rate this year.”

Instead of a permanent salary boost, Howard said he was in favor of a one-time bonus for employees instead for the year.

File PhotoAlanMauldin[email protected]
File PhotoAlanMauldin[email protected]