New Sanitation Fee Proposed in Lilburn

The 2011-12 budget proposal for the City of Lilburn will be up for public input at the City Council’s next meeting on May 9.

Chances are there will be some opinions expressed at that time.

Part of the proposed $5.9 million budget for the upcoming fiscal year includes a new sanitation-removal fee for city residents, who for years have received the service for free.

Based on a recommendation from the Budget Oversight Committee, which consists of 10 city residents, the Council is proposing a $10-per-month charge to each residence for trash removal and chipper service.

The Council discussed the new charge, as well as proposed increases in the occupational tax structure and in alcohol-sales licensing for businesses, at a work session this week as it battles steadily declining tax-based revenue and tries to avoid increasing the city’s millage rate or cutting services.

City leaders estimate that Lilburn’s revenue from its tax digest has decreased by around 25 percent over the past three years. Property-tax revenue alone, affected by decreasing property values, is expected to fall 10 percent in 2011-12 from 2010-11.

Simply put, “We need to raise revenue or cut services,” City Manager Bill Johnsa said.

The Council, which has been in the cutting mode that last few years, favored raising revenue and expressed wanting to do that in the fairest ways possible.

The proposed $120 yearly sanitation charge for the approximately 3,500 city residences would generate more than $400,000, which would help defray the city’s cost for the service. Johnsa said the $10 per month “is a little more than half” of what the city would spend on trash removal and the chipper service for yard debris.

Council members generally agreed that the new fee would still be a good deal for service that people elsewhere pay more for but get less.

As comparison, unincorporated Lilburn residents pay nearly $18 per month to trash-removal vendors contracted with the county (it’s expected to increase to more that $18), and that doesn’t include the chipper service.

The budget proposal also includes a change in the occupational tax structure that will assess taxes on businesses based on gross receipts, rather than on the number of employees. That change in the tax code could result in an estimated $240,000 in additional revenue, potentially tripling the current figure. There would be a cap of $25,000 on each tax charge, but Johnsa said, “I’ll dare say [the cap] might — might — affect two or three businesses.”

The tax change would mostly affect larger businesses; most small businesses, would expect to see little or no increase.

The Council agreed that the proposal would bring the city in line with how most of the neighboring cities and the county assesses taxes on their businesses.

The proposed change in the alcohol licensing fee structure would amount to about an additional $15,000 and also bring Lilburn in line with surrounding municipalities.

Also in the budget proposal is the filling two of the three positions in the Lilburn Police Department that have been frozen. Money is proposed for one sworn and one communications officer. There’s also a two-percent salary increase for city employees, who haven’t had raises in three years.

Johnsa said the best news in the budget is there’s no proposed increase in the city’s millage rate, which the law would have allowed the city to do to make up for tax-revenue decreases — called a “revenue neutral” increase. And with property values declining, and the millage rate staying the same, many residents actually would pay less in property taxes, Johnsa said.

Citizens can weigh in on the budget proposal in a public hearing at the upcoming City Council meeting. The budget would go up for approval at the June council meeting.

Johnsa said a copy of the proposed budget will be posted soon on the city’s website.