City Council Approves Tax Increase
June 19, 2008
In a 4-2 vote on Monday city officials approved the one-half point mileage increase in taxes for city property owners. The increase will cost the average Snellville home owner $20 per $100,000 assessed value.
Snellville residents voiced their opinions about the city taxes in public held hearings. Like the split vote, some residents are in favor of the increase, while others are opposed.
Mayor Jerry Oberholtzer urged the council to support the tax increase which would help compensate for a revenue shortfall.
Councilwoman Kelly Kautz refused to vote, expressing concern about the process. Kautz was concerned the mayor had not appointed a city manager until last week, meaning that the city manager was not in place in time to help balance the budget. Under Snellville charter, however, abstention counts as an affirmative vote.
Likewise, Councilman Robert Jenkins said he didn’t feel confident voting on a budget that was not overseen by a city manager.
Only Jenkins and Mayor Pro Tem Warren Auld voted against the increase.
Feeling there was no alternative due to revenue shortfall, Councilman Tod Warner voted for the tax. Speaking in favor of his vote, Warner stated, “People may think we are ‘tax and spend’ politicians, but we’re far from it … It’s not something we do lightly.”
Councilwoman Barbara Bender agreed and also voted for mileage increase. Expressing the difficulty she had in making the vote because of the hard economic times we are currently seeing, Bender stated that she also found her affirmative vote necessary.
Although residents won’t see the increase until the fall when Gwinnett County circulates the tax bill, the property tax increase is estimated to generate $595,000 for the city.