CORNELIA, Ga. — Cornelia city commissioners will hold public hearings on the proposed fiscal 2027 budget and millage rate Tuesday as they consider a number of financial, zoning and infrastructure matters.
The Cornelia City Commission will meet at 6 p.m. Oct. 6 in the Municipal Courtroom at City Hall, 181 Larkin St.
Budget, millage rate hearings
The proposed fiscal 2027 budget is expected to receive significant attention.
The working draft calls for $28.06 million in total expenditures across nine funds. The General Fund accounts for $8.67 million of that amount, compared with projected revenues of $7.89 million, leaving a $788,769 shortfall if the city makes no change to the millage rate and does not use fund balance.
The budget includes a 2.5% cost-of-living increase for city employees and merit increases of up to 2.5%. Employee health insurance premiums are projected to increase 15%, while liability insurance premiums are expected to rise 10%.
The proposed budget also includes a 5.5% increase in water and sewer fees and a 5% increase in sanitation fees.
City officials have identified several options for closing the General Fund gap, including increasing the millage rate, using fund balance, reducing expenditures or combining those approaches. The city says department requests have already been reduced by approximately $1.1 million.
Commissioners also will hold the second and third public hearings on the proposed millage rate at noon and 6 p.m. Tuesday.
The city is proposing increasing the millage rate from 9.5 mills to 11.5 mills. City documents show the proposed rate would generate about $744,183 more in property tax revenue than the current rate.
City Manager Donald Anderson previously told commissioners the city’s tax digest experienced approximately $1.64 million in negative inflationary growth, contributing to a projected $100,000 decline in property tax revenue.
The city’s proposed rate would be 1.99 mills above the calculated rollback rate of 9.51 mills.
DDA proposes alcohol pricing changes
Additionally, the Downtown Development Authority is asking commissioners to consider changes to the city’s alcohol ordinance that would allow restaurants and other eligible establishments to offer happy hours and other limited-time specials.
The current ordinance requires alcohol price schedules to remain in effect for at least one calendar week and restricts changes during a single day.
The DDA proposal would allow prices to vary by day and time, provided promotional prices and the beginning and ending times are disclosed to customers. Existing requirements concerning responsible alcohol service, age verification and service to intoxicated customers would remain.
The DDA is asking commissioners to direct the city attorney and city manager to prepare an amendment for future consideration rather than adopting the changes Tuesday.
The commission also will hear from Audrey Davenport during the public forum regarding Cornelia’s Red Clay Creative Cohort projects and the Brushstrokes of Change mural project before moving through the remainder of the agenda.
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