Albany officials unveil $288.3 million FY 2020 spending plan

ALBANY — City Manager Sharon Subadan unveiled the city of Albany’s FY 2020 budget at the City Commission’s meeting Tuesday, a balanced $288.3 million spending plan that comes with no millage rate or utility fee increases and no use of Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia credits.

Subadan and city Finance Director Derrick Brown went over the basics of the budget during the commission meeting, noting during their discussion areas of new spending and initiatives that are included in the plan, the city’s largest ever.

“This budget includes new initiatives that will allow us to dress up our front door, to make improvements in our cemeteries, to put our very successful wellness program in a permanent location, and provide updated and renovated facilities for our hardest-working employees in Public Works,” the city manager said.

The new programs/initiatives include renovations to improve the city’s wellness clinic, upgrades to city-owned cemeteries, a “Team Up to Clean Up” effort to beautify the city’s corridors, renovation of work crew quarters and other Public Works facilities and a Go Pivot app that will enhance the city’s wellness program.

Ward III Commissioner B.J. Fletcher lauded the announcement of the cemetery upgrades.

“I was so pleased to hear that as part of your presentation,” Fletcher said. “This past weekend was Mother’s Day, and I started getting the calls on Friday from people who were upset at the condition of our cemeteries. (This new initiative) is a way to show that the city respects citizens’ loved ones who are buried here.”

Before getting into the specifics of the FY 2020 spending plan, Subadan mentioned some of the positives from the current fiscal year. She noted storm recovery work, completion of Phase I of the city’s road improvement plan, work on the connector trail that will allow access from downtown to the Albany-to-Sasser rail trail, transit improvements, ongoing work on a passenger bridge at the Southwest Georgia Regional Airport, a new automated parking system at the airport and the implementation of an LED lighting program.

“The storms that we’ve had don’t define us as a city, but we can’t deny the impact they’ve had,” Subadan said. “Our recovery efforts have come with a price tag of between $24 million and $25 million. I remain optimistic that the majority of those funds will be reimbursed (by FEMA).

“I met you four years ago (when I interviewed for this job), and I came to you with a great deal of enthusiasm. I still have that enthusiasm. Our theme for this year’s budget proposal is ‘We’re on the Road to Success.’”

Subadan also mentioned the planned opening of The Flint restaurant downtown, the recent completed purchase of The Albany Herald building, ongoing work on an employee pay-for-performance plan, the implementation of safety officers who work with the Albany Police Department and the use of HUD funds to improve housing opportunities.

“Plus, I’m proud to say, the first year of having Spectra manage the Albany Civic Center and other facilities saved the city $800,000,” she said. “And, I might add, that while implementation of the performance pay plan is cumbersome, we think it will help us attract and keep our best employees. It is not an everybody-gets-a-trophy program.”

Brown went over some of the details of the spending plan, pointing out to commissioners that this is the fifth year that the city can expect to roll back its millage rate.

“There will be around a 2.6% rollback over that period,” Brown said. “That shows fiscal responsibility on the city’s part.”

Brown also said that, primarily because of the T-SPLOST referendum approved by voters, the city will have an additional $13.7 million in revenue during the 2019-20 fiscal year.

“I’m Sharon Subadan, this is Derrick Brown, and this is 2020,” Subadan said with a smile as staff handed out detailed copies of the budget to commissioners.

The city manager said the board will discuss specifics of the budget in the meetings leading up to its planned vote on the plan in late June. An official budget hearing with public input will be conducted June 11.

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