Lee: Cobb Budget in a 'Precarious Position'

Tim Lee was scheduled to take an early flight to New York on Thursday morning to meet with officials of credit agencies overseeing Cobb County's Triple-A rating.

They're not the only people the Cobb Commission chairman has to convince about the county's fiscal health in the coming months as he and his colleagues prepare for another painful budget process. 

Lee told members of the East Cobb Civic Association on Wednesday that the Cobb budget hole to start fiscal 2012 in October is estimated to be around $15 million, with projections saying that it could grow to $30 million. 

That's because the county's tax digest, which accounts for roughly 55 percent of the budget, is expected to drop between 8 to 10 percent a year between now and 2013.

"We're in a precarious position," Lee said during the meeting at the East Cobb Government Services Center. "We're in uncharted waters we've never been in before. We're having to do things we've never had to do before."

That includes five days of furloughs for county employees just for the remainder of the 2011 fiscal year, with today being the first of those days. 

The Cobb County Board of Commissioners voted in April for $31.6 million in revised budget cuts after an eight percent drop in the county tax digest that was reported at the first of the year.

Lee, who had proposed to , eventually revised his proposal to cut all county departments by 10 percent across the board, and aquatic centers, scale back senior services, and issue furloughs without raising property taxes. That plan passed .

"Not many [county] employees like me any more," Lee quipped. "We all have to suffer to this, but our employees are having to take money out of their pockets for something that is not their fault."

Lee has asked county department heads to notify him by today of budget cuts that are unsustainable. He might have received more than he asked for when Cobb Superior Court Clerk Jay Stephenson fired off a hotly-worded letter to Lee, saying he wouldn't take part in fiscal 2012 budget cuts and accusing the chairman of poor leadership for not raising the millage rate. 

Lee admitted Wednesday that the county's budget woes could have been solved by increasing the general millage rate by 0.8, the fire fund by 0.3 and the debt fund by .04. But only North Cobb commissioner Helen Goreham was willing to vote for tax increases, and she was the lone vote against the final budget passage. 

"That would have eliminated our deficit," Lee said. "Some people don't believe that we have bare bones, but we do."

Cobb is even pulling back on the mowing of shoulder grass along county roads, doing so only where safety is a concern, and is asking for public volunteers to help. 

Beyond continuing the 10 percent cuts, he didn't offer many possible methods for achieving a balanced budget for fiscal 2012. Lee said he'd be "surprised" if the Cobb Citizen Oversight Committee currently reviewing the county's finances would be able to find $15 million in savings.

He gave citizens his email address (tlee@cobbcounty.org) and urged them to offer ideas, comments and suggestions. 

Lee has also solicited the assistance of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce to help with economic development efforts to create jobs and otherwise increase the county's revenue base. 

"Our challenges are real," he said, "but I'm optimistic that we will come out of this better."