SMYRNA, Georgia — Officials here proposed a $122.7 million budget for fiscal year 2027.
The budget keeps the city’s property tax rate “unchanged” for a 20th consecutive year while increasing spending on water infrastructure, parks maintenance and capital projects.
The proposed budget would fund city operations from July 1 through June 30, 2027, and now heads to the mayor and council for consideration. City officials said the plan maintains financial discipline while addressing infrastructure and staffing needs across multiple departments.
Among the largest items in the proposal is a 13.5% increase in the Water/Sewer Fund, driven largely by wholesale water costs and a $6 million capital plan that includes replacing water meters and other infrastructure projects. The budget also proposes increasing the stormwater fee from $3.87 to $3.95 per month, effective January 2027.
The General Fund budget would rise to about $73.6 million, a 2.5% increase over the revised fiscal 2026 budget. City staff said the property tax millage rate would remain at 8.99 mills despite a projected 3.5% increase in the tax digest.
The proposal recommends three new full-time positions, including one facilities maintenance technician and two parks maintenance technicians tied to the opening of the River Line Splashpad and reopening of Tolleson Pool. Eight full-time and two part-time positions had originally been requested by department heads.
Other highlights include $620,000 budgeted for entertainment and production costs connected to the city’s annual birthday celebration, $150,000 for public art projects and more than $60,000 for heritage celebrations, including Juneteenth, Hispanic Heritage Month and Black History Month events. The city plans to pull $589,000 from cash reserves for the upcoming birthday celebration.
The budget includes $350,000 for the Birthday Celebration’s headliner and a stage on Atlanta Road.
The proposed budget also includes $2.1 million in resurfacing projects funded through the 2022 SPLOST program and $33,000 for traffic-calming software intended to collect real-time traffic data citywide.
The budget also increases spending for the Smyrna Museum by 0.2% to $127,637.
Be the first to comment