By Jonathan Copsey / STAFF

Alpharettans should be proud of their City Council and staff – the budget is balanced and so good that council members have few complaints. Whereas last year there were many long hours of back-and-forth over what money gets spent where, this year, Council just seems happy to have any money at all to keep the City running. 

“I’m very happy with this,” said Councilman D.C. Aiken. “This budget improved some services and held the line” on budget cuts.

The only true sticking point discussed by the council members was the Homeowners Tax Relief Grant. This state grant was a tax cut on the homestead exemption that the state had to axe in this year’s budget. Because of the niceties of budgets, what amounts to a tax increase will be shown in the tax bills from the municipalities.

“This is a tax increase that we had nothing to do with,” said Councilman Doug DeRito. He and other council members would like to revisit the possibility of Alpharetta coming through on the state’s failed promise in the mid-year budget review. Several other halted projects, such as sewage and drainage issues around the City will also be reconsidered at mid-year.

But that would only be if the economy shows signs of recovering significantly and if property reassessments are not a continuing problem, like they have been for the past year.

For those wishing to take part in the budgetary process, tomorrow, Monday June 22 will be the last time to do it. That will be the second and final public hearing on the matter before the Council makes a final decision.

Stimulating Energy Efficiency?

The Federal stimulus reared its ugly head again before Council in the form of the “Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant” (EECBG). This grant would provide funding for an energy audit of city buildings to determine where energy is being wasted.

Public Works Director Pete Sewczwicz gave testimony that his building in particular is lopsided in trapping heat; one side of the building is easily maintained at a regular temperature, the other side is needing constant AC to stay cool. The waste in energy – and the resulting bills – can add up. The grant is to help identify such wasteful areas and suggest ways to fix them.

While Councilman John Monson – who frequently leads the charge against accepting stimulus money - refused the need to comment, DeRito took up the lead.

“We would just get a report that tells us how much more money to spend on these buildings which right now is not anywhere in the budget. That is a highly unusual use of taxpayer money,” DeRito said. “We have pretty efficient buildings right now.” He further added that whatever results come from the study, the City would be pressed to act on them, adding cost to the taxpayers.

“We’ll have to do this eventually,” countered Mayor Arthur Letchas. “If we go down this road of being a green city, this would be something we will have to do. At some point we’re going to have to do something. You can get the money from the federal government or you can get it from your taxpayers.”

The grant was defeated 4-2, with Mayor Letchas and Councilman Jim Paine the supporters.