By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
JULY 22, 2022 | Ever try to take a bone away from a dog?
If so, you might remember getting scuffed up considerably by the dog. They often do more than growl. Most animals, and people too, don’t like to have anything taken from them.
You would think that elected officials would understand this.
Every so often, politicians seem to lose their memories, and suggest eliminating some benefit that the voters enjoy. The result is at least a “dust-up,” if not all-out fight. And it’s possible that, no matter the resolution of the matter, the people, that is the voters, have a long term memory, and show it at the polls.
The latest political unit dis-remembering this is the Norcross City Council. At a recent work session, the Council discussed at length what they might do to meet increased collection costs from their garbage hauler, Waste Management. What with inflation, rising personnel cost and higher fuel cost, Waste Management has told the city that there would be a higher cost to the city for collecting its waste next year. The contract with the company would jump from $180 per residential customer to $320 a year.
So the Council delved into this quandary. Soon someone on the Council remembered that senior citizens in Norcross get their garbage picked up for free, an idea instituted years ago before any of the current council was elected. That benefit is for 624 households with the homeowner at least age 62, out of a population of 16,876 (2022). If the city eliminated the senior garbage benefit, it would bring to the city another $200,000 in revenue at the new rate for collecting garbage.
This matter should be on the agenda at the next Norcross Council meeting, which will be on August 1 at 6:30 p.m. (However, there is a special called meeting scheduled for that same day at 11 a.m. to talk about the new millage rate.) That regular August 1 meeting might hear some howling from senior residents.
There’s another taxing consideration. With many homeowners seeing a significant jump in their home assessment, that means that many of the Norcross property owners will see a jump in their property taxes when tax bills go out in a few weeks. Should the city of Norcross eliminate the senior garbage benefit, these households will see a double-whammy in taxes.
While the City of Norcross has, like other municipalities, higher cost in many categories, it offsets some increased costs by having higher revenues. Those higher revenues are not small.
For 2021, the City of Norcross across-the-board budget for all its funds amounted to $41 million. But for the next fiscal year, 2023, the City will have a much higher anticipated budget. By happenstance, in the last issue of GwinnettForum, it was shown that new city budget for 2022 would be $44,546,294. This $3 million higher revenues anticipated for 2023 run the gamut across the board, and are largely driven by the city’s enterprise revenues from its electrical department. That reaps a “profit” to the city and helps keep taxes lower.
That increase in revenues makes the anticipated revenue from charging Norcross seniors $200,000 for garbage collection seem mighty small. You might think that the City could have funded what it cost to collect garbage for seniors through the $3 million more in its anticipated income.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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