Politics & Government

Cobb Chairman: 'We're Doing More with Less'

Tim Lee talked declining property values, SPLOST and proactive approaches to job creation in his State of the County Address Monday.

Cobb Commission Chairman Tim Lee laid out the economic issues now facing the county—including declining property values and job growth—in his State of the County Address on Monday.

In front of roughly 300 people at the Cobb Chamber’s breakfast, he also outlined the strategies that government officials, in partnership with business and community leaders, have developed to face these issues.

He called 2010 “a year of transition," and he addressed declining property values, proactive approaches to job and business growth, and how the county’s one-cent special sales tax has helped complete various improvement projects.

Lee said that 295 of the 305 projects included in the 2005 SPLOST are complete or are being finished, including the new county superior courthouse, which was finished in December.

All the projects were paid for in cash, he said, and with a “30 percent discount,” since about 30 percent of SPLOST taxes are paid by people who do not live in Cobb County.

Without SPLOST revenues, “our competitive posture would not be as strong,” he said.

Although “2010 was a tough year,” the county saw a $33,000 surplus in its general fund and did not dip into its $23 million in reserves. Those reserves, he said, are to be used for “God-given circumstances” and the current economical ones.

But Lee said cuts have been made: the 2009 fiscal year by $25 million and the 2010 fiscal year budget by $8 million.

“We’re doing more with less,” he said.

Lee said that more than half of the county’s revenue comes from property taxes, while property values continue to decline.

“Moving forward will require more shared sacrifices,” he said.

However, Lee said that Cobb County has the lowest tax rate in the metro Atlanta area and the lowest sales tax rates of three adjacent counties—DeKalb, Fulton and Pauling. And the county has not increased the millage rate since 1990, he added.

Using information from Roger Tutterow, an economy professor at Mercer University, Lee said the county may continue to see decreases in home property values until about 2013. That year is also when the job market is expected to make a turn for the better, he said.

“We’re going to plan for the worst because it’s the conservative thing to do,” Lee said.

Being fiscally conservative is one reason why Cobb County is one of 37 counties in the United States to earn its AAA bond rating from the top three rating agencies in the nation, Lee said.

Through partnerships with businesses, academia and city and county officials, Lee said the county will proactively approach the tough issues of job creation and business growth.

The four main focuses of proactive job and business growth for Cobb County, Lee said, are retaining businesses, expanding companies, recruiting new jobs and expanding tourism.

A little more than 1,600 jobs are being created or are being brought to Cobb County with the expansion of current businesses and the implantation of others, such as CCH Small Firm Services. The accounting and tax software company is moving its headquarters to Kennesaw and bringing about 200 jobs over the next year and a half, Lee said.

Although Cobb County continues to make strides in economic development, Lee repeated throughout the address: “We’ve still got a long way to go.”

Last year “was tough; 2011 will be tough,” Lee said. “I want to assure you … the future for Cobb County is bright.”

To watch the full State of the County Address, visit cobbcounty.org/tv23 Tuesday. The State of the County address will also be played on TV23 at 7 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday; 8 a.m. on Thursday; 8 a.m. and noon on Friday; noon on Saturday and Sunday; and at 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Feb. 14.


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