The Hall County Board of Commissioners unveiled it’s proposed Fiscal Year 2020 budget Thursday.
The budget features a full mileage rate rollback down to 9.688 mills. It also represents a 2.5 percent increase from the county’s Fiscal Year 2019 budget.
County officials say the millage rate rollback will result in no property tax increases for unincorporated county residents.
The overall budget is more than $276 million. Hall County Financial Services Director Zach Propes said the budget is indicative of a strong financial position for the county.
"The financial decisions that we've made over the past few years have really started to come to fruition," Propes said. "It's really setting us up to have a strong and sustainable operation."
Propes said the county has continued to see an increase in the tax digest over the past several years and is expecting to see nearly a seven percent increase in tax revenue in Fiscal Year 2020 despite rolling back the millage rate. More increases in revenue are expected to come from commissions, licenses and permits.
"All of those things that play into those revenue streams are just continuing to grow at a steady rate," Propes said.
The budget proposes decreased spending in what the county calls "general government" and agencies while increasing spending in public safety, housing and development and recreation. It also eliminates the Hall County clinic/pharmacy fund, moving that money into the county's group insurance fund.
A more complete breakdown of Hall County's Fiscal Year 2020 budget can be found on the county's website.
Two residents spoke on the budget during a public hearing held at Thursday's presentation. One suggested the county needed to allocate more money to infrastructure including residential roads, while the other praised the county for rolling back the millage rate.
The Hall County Commission is scheduled to vote on the budget at its June 25 meeting and a second public hearing will be held before that vote.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2019/6/804485/proposed-hall-county-budget-includes-full-millage-rate-rollback