The FY 2022 budget for Hall County will ease the tax burden for most county property owners, and while that's a big positive in the spending plan, Hall County commissioners are also glad county employees will receive a pay increase in the new year.
District 3 Commissioner Shelly Echols said after Monday's commission work session, she's most proud of a 5% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for Hall County employees, saying many have been underpaid for too long. About $4.5 million has been set aside for pay raises.
"Any time we can be fiscally sound and conservative, but also increase the pay for our county employees to make this a place where they want to stay working, I'm always proud to do that," Echols said.
She said the pandemic year had been particularly taxing on the people who keep the county running.
"It's been stressful, so I think this is a good thing to do [for them] coming into a new year," Echols said.
Commission Chairman Richard Higgins agreed with Echols.
"Taking care of our employees is really big because it's been an interesting year, to say the least," Higgins said. "This time last year, we didn't have any idea where we would be as far as sales tax revenue, property tax revenue...but everything has turned out on the positive side."
Higgins said commissioners were conservative in their spending over the past year, allowing for increased spending in the FY22 budget - additional equipment for fire and emergency services and extra amenities for parks and recreation facilities, for example.
Higgins said the county has been careful, as well, with money that came to the county from the American Rescue Plan, using the bulk of it so far for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program that prevents a resident from eviction if her or she has fallen behind on rent. He said commissioners will be cautious with future federal funding.
Because there is a full millage rate rollback and the county commission has already held one public hearing on the budget, there will be no discussion when the commission votes on the $344 million spending plan this Thursday at 6 p.m.
Follow this link to see the budget presentation submitted to the Hall County Commission on June 10, 2021.
