JONESBORO — In its regular meeting Tuesday, June 20, the Clayton County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the fiscal year 2024 budget — which includes raises for public safety employees, except for administration staff.
Public safety employees have the potential to get up to 14% in raises — counting 6% in raises, a 3% cost-of-living increase, and up to a 5% raise based on merit.
The county’s general fund budget (which covers the day-to-day operations of the county) is about $292.62 million.
That’s up more than $11 million from last year’s budget, primarily because of the $10.2 million for the raises.
The Board of Commissioners is expecting to reduce its millage rate from 18.971 mills to 16 mills. Even though the tax rate is expected to decrease, it doesn’t mean property taxes will go down as property values have increased.
At the 18.971 tax rate, the owner of a home valued at $100,000 would pay $758.84 in taxes — not counting school board or municipal taxes or homestead exemptions or other exemptions. At the 16-mill rate, an owner of a home valued at $100,000 would pay $640 in taxes.
Here is a glance at some of the proposed expenditures by department (numbers have been rounded up):
♦ Sheriff’s Office: $44.34 million.
♦ Police: $39.10 million.
♦ Information Technology: $14.7 million.
♦ EMS/Rescue: $14.26 million.
♦ General Government (Commissioners): $4.52 million.
♦ Superior Court: $10.71 million.
♦ Parks and Recreation: $9.9 million.
♦ Prison and Corrections: $9.34 million.
♦ Professional Services: $9.16 million.
♦ Buildings and Maintenance: $8.39 million.
♦ Transportation and Development: $8.19 million.
♦ Fleet Maintenance: $7.96 million.
♦ District Attorney: $6.18 million.
♦ Juvenile Court: $5.49 million.
♦ Senior Services: $4.85 million.
♦ Finance and Accounting: $4.84 million.
♦ Tax…
Read the full article here
