Thursday, May 26, 2011
Commission chairman says county will start FY 2012 with a $15M deficit that could double.
Tim Lee was scheduled to take an early flight to New York Thursday morning to meet with officials of credit agencies overseeing Cobb County's prized 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 year 2012 in October is estimated to be around $15 million, with projections 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…
Monday, April 11, 2011
One Libertarian's perspective on how to close the Cobb budget deficit.
Amazing! The solution for closing our significant spending gap in Cobb County government is to close libraries? Holy cow! Hey, I'm of the Libertarian bent and would like to reduce every level of government to the absolute smallest degree. But, after police and fire departments, I think libraries are one of the most cost-effective and beneficial services our county government can provide. Once the money has been invested in the physical plant, the cost to operate our public library system can't be that great. Has Chairman Tim Lee really taken an in-depth look at other areas where spending could be cut? Or has the focus been purely on cutting expenditures without considering other ways to reduce expenses and increase revenues without …
Your weekday morning guide to what's happening in East Cobb.
This wasn't how Cobb library lovers thought they would be observing National Library Week, which began this morning. Instead of encouraging their fellow citizens to patronize county libraries in the usual and unremarkable ways, they've been busy organizing a rapid lobbying effort to save the library system from being gutted in wake of serious Cobb budget deficit concerns. Since it launched late Friday afternoon, the "Save Cobb Libraries" Facebook page has generated 1,636 "likes" and plenty of comments from surprised and bewildered citizens, many taken aback by commission chairman Tim Lee's proposal to close 13 of the 17 county libraries, including the East Cobb and East Marietta branches. While those are impressive social media …
lisa56
5:52 pm on Friday, May 27, 2011
Kudos to Commissioner Helen Goreham for her honest assessment of Cobb County's budget woes. Why is it that only she will admit that due to a decrease in the tax digest there will have to be a comparable increase in the millage rate? That's basic math. Had the commissioners' approach of reducing services in order to maintain current millage rates been the policy of Cobb County leaders throughout … more ›