Gwinnett Buzz

Think you pay enough of your hard earned money to Gwinnett County?  Well get ready to pony up more.  The Gwinnett County Commission has passed the 2009 budget and there is a gaping $62 million hole to plug.  To its credit, the board has already cut many expenses such as the Gwinnett Glows Fourth of July fireworks display and turning off the underpass lights at I-85 and Sugarloaf Parkway.  But the gap remains and with commissioners refusing to use the “rainy day fund,” the only option to balance the budget is to raise your taxes.

Apparently, Tuesday’s meeting was rather contentious with Commissioner Mike Beaudreau and Commission Chairman Charles Bannister verbally sparring.  Gwinnett Views reports that the video of the meeting is worth watching.  I have not done so yet, so I can only go by news reports.  Though I have been very critical of Beaudreau, the commissioner did claim that his alternate proposal would have balanced the budget without the need for a tax increase.  While I cannot speak to the accuracy of this claim, Beaudreau is to be commended for his fiscal conservatism with regards to the budget.  Of course Chairman Bannister had a valid point about the timing of Beaudreau’s 11th-hour proposal being too late.  Who is right?  Who knows, but ultimately Beaudreau claimed that three capital project cut from his district were politically motivated.  Makes you want to go and check out that video for sure!

The main takeaway is that the budget as passed is still in search of $62 million and that is going to hit you right in your wallet.  Bob Griggs at TalkGwinnett.com has posted an in-depth budget analysis and concludes that an increase of 2.06 mills will be necessary.  This translates into $144 more in property tax for a $200,000 home.  To a degree, I can accept that an increase is necessary when county revenues are down due to a weak economy.  However, when there is wasteful government spending that results in taxpayers having to dip a little further into their pocketbooks to cover the excesses of politicians, a tax increase is a much more bitter pill to swallow.  

Bob lists several examples of expenditures that could have been eliminated from the budget and apparently were not.  While I do not agree that all of the items are pork - an efficiency study could have a positive return down the road and software licenses may be critical to a certaindepartment, for example, - when the county is spending over a million dollars on a “green” initiative and $300,000 on a tennis center, supporting our officials on this vote is difficult.  This fails to even mention the $31 million the commission wasted on a minor league baseball stadium last year.  The total pledged to the Gwinnett Braves stadium amounts to half of the 2009 budget deficit.  If those funds had not been spend on an unneeded minor league baseball team and were available to offset decreased county revenue, your tax increase would be only $72.  I wonder if Commissioner Bert Nasuti would like to justify that cost to his constituents today?

Tags: baseball, Bert Nasuti, budget, Charles Bannister, economy, environment, fireworks, government, green, Gwinnett Braves, Gwinnett County Commission, Gwinnett Glows, I-85, Mike Beaudreau, millage rate, property tax, recession, stadium, Sugarloaf Parkway, Taxes

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