Former Powder Springs Councilman Explains Budget Process

By Tom Bevirt

This column continues its discussion of Powder Springs government. Last time, ; this week I need to expand on this boring but vital topic.

All units of government, if they don't do much of anything else, are required to have a yearly budget, made available to the public. There must be public hearings for the citizens to view, ask questions about, and comment on the budget.

Here is how this works: Each year, the department heads—, , finance and —must submit what they will need and what income, if any, they expect to receive. They send this in to the Finance Department, usually by May.

The Finance Department then goes through it and submits a review to the city manager. The manager is supposed to review it, discuss any items with the department heads, and then present the final budget to the mayor and City Council.

They then suggest changes and send it back to the manager for a final mark-up so that the council can then have two public hearings, usually in June. The budget must be voted on and approved before July 1.

The budget determines what the mileage rate will be—in other words, if taxes remain the same, are increased or are decreased. 

Now you know the importance of the budget. So why is it that only a handful of citizens show up for the hearings or bother to pick up a free copy of the budget for their own review?

How should I know? You tell me.

Within the next week, I'll have another column discussing outsourcing the city's sanitation services.