{"id":223,"date":"2022-07-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-29T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nice-cori.104-207-151-122.plesk.page\/?p=223"},"modified":"2022-07-29T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-07-29T00:00:00","slug":"10724-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aroundwoodstockmagazine.com\/10724-2","title":{"rendered":"A Message From the Mayor"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The most important duty of our City Council is the adoption of a fiscally responsible, balanced budget each year. On June 13, council passed, and I was proud to sign, the ordinance to provide for our Fiscal Year 2023 Budget \u2014 its execution took effect July 1 and will end June 30, 2023. I am very proud to report that our city continues to assess some of the lowest municipal taxes in the metro Atlanta region, all while providing some of the highest quality services to our residents and investing in critical public priorities.<\/p>\n

If you ever want to discover a person\u2019s priorities, you only need to take a look at their checkbook. This same principle applies to governments. This column will cover a high-level breakdown of Woodstock\u2019s FY 2023 (July 1, 2022 \u2013 June 30, 2023) budget, and we\u2019ll examine where our city focuses its attention. The total budget this year allocates $72,110,126 spread over five funds, with a total general fund expenditure coming in at $24,879,561 of that amount.<\/p>\n

01 General Fund \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span> \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span> 38.5%\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span> $24.8 million
\n<\/span>02 Water-Sewer\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span> \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span> 13.1%\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span> $13.7 million
\n<\/span>03 Storm Water\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span> \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span> 9.5%\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span> $1.5 million
\n<\/span>04 SPLOST V \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span> \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span> 7% \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span> $16.2 million
\n<\/span>05 Special Revenue\/Internal Service\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span> 4.5%\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span> $15.7 million<\/span><\/p>\n

Most of these funds are dedicated toward specific purposes, i.e., Water-Sewer as a separate fund intended to sustain our clean water and sewer treatment services. The General Fund comprises the lion\u2019s share of our budgeting and serves as the best place to identify priorities. It is divided as follows:<\/p>\n

01 Police \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span> \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span> 27.81%\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span> $6.9 million
\n<\/span>02 Fire \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span> \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span> 21.60%\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span> $5.3 million
\n<\/span>03 Public Works\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span> \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span> 8.99%\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span> $2.2 million
\n<\/span>04 Parks and Recreation\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span> \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span> 6.35%\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span> $1.5 million
\n<\/span>05 Municipal Court \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span> \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span> 4.57%\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span> $1.1 million
\n<\/span>06 All Remaining City Government<\/span> \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span> 30.68%\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span> $7.6 million<\/span><\/p>\n

The first two departments, our police and fire departments, comprise nearly 50% of our city\u2019s budget. If you were to determine our city\u2019s No. 1 priority based on budget allocation, there is no contest. We put public safety first.<\/p>\n

The next 20% of our budget is allocated across Public Works (infrastructure), Parks and Recreation, and our city\u2019s judicial branch. These five departments together comprise roughly 70% of our total budget, leaving all remaining portions of our government spread across the final 30%.<\/p>\n

Now, we\u2019ve seen the check stubs. What do they tell us about our city\u2019s priorities? As I look over Woodstock\u2019s five largest expenses, I see three major themes.<\/p>\n