Sugar City Council is poised to adopt the 2018 fiscal year budget at its meeting on Monday, a budget that features an over all spending decrease of 3.54-percent, despite the addition of funding for a new community theater and gymnasium.
The $50 million budget will also include money to staff the new Eagle Theater, which is part of the city's E-Center project in the downtown area, according to Paul Radford, city manager.
The E-Center is expected to be completed in April, with tenants moving into the available spaces in June.
"It is a budget that will continue to build on our investments in our downtown," said Radford.
"We have increased our commitment in our road department ... because we will be doing all the right-of-way and median maintenance on (Ga. 20) from the Chattahoochee River all the way to Peachtree Industrial Boulevard."
The budget also includes further construction of the Sugar Hill Greenway, a trail that will eventually form a roughly 15-mile loop around the city. The first five miles of the trail are expected to be completed in 2018, connecting the city's parks, including the currently-under-construction Gold Mine Park, said Radford.
In total, the budget calls for $7.1 million in capital improvements for the fiscal year, which runs in tandem with the calendar in Sugar Hill, unlike many municipalities in the area.
Council got an update on the budget at its work session Monday evening, and is expected to formally adopt it at its voting session on Dec. 11.
An online overview of the budget can be found here.
