Atlanta City Councilmember Anne Fauver, who represents District 6, opposes Mayor Shirley Franklin’s plan to raise property taxes to cover the budget shortfall. (Photo courtesy City Council)
The crisis over the city of Atlanta’s estimated $140 million budget shortfall continues to escalate, as the only openly gay member of the City Council called Mayor Shirley Franklin’s proposed solution a “threat” and a Midtown activist publicly questioned whether the heavily gay neighborhood should secede from Atlanta to become its own city.
“I think it is time to seriously consider the formation of a break-away city to include Midtown and surrounding neighborhoods,” Midtown Ponce Security Alliance Vice-President Steve Gower wrote in a widely circulated e-mail.
Gower, who is gay, said in a later e-mail interview that his suggestion wasn’t so much a “concrete proposal” as “an idea to consider the pros and cons.”
“Sticking close to the present, the budget cuts do concern me because we were making good headway with code enforcement and working with prosecutors in court watch cases,” Gower said. “All that is up in the air now, and it remains to be seen how negatively that will affect us.”
Gower isn’t the only worried Atlantan. Frustration with the city has risen to the point where an increasing number of residents are offering their own “nuclear options.” Angry citizens have suggested everything from running a blanket replacement of City Council to combining Fulton County and Atlanta governments.
Atlanta City Councilmember Anne Fauver is angry, too. Fauver is gay and represents District 6, which includes much of Midtown and is home to many gay residents and businesses. Fauver says the mayor’s plan to raise taxes to cover the budget shortfall or else face cutting hundreds of public service jobs is unnecessary.
“What the mayor is saying is that we have to lose 200 police officers and 100 firefighters or raise taxes,” Fauver said. “To me that’s a threat.”
COMPETING PLANS
Franklin has also said if taxes aren’t raised, the city would be forced to terminate 90 firefighters and close six fire stations.
Software errors, bookkeeping oversights and, Franklin has said, unprecedented increases in pensions and health care costs have incurred the city’s $140 million deficit for fiscal year 2009, which begins July 1.
Franklin’s proposed budget to fix the deficit includes raising an additional $40 million from property taxes in addition to 441 employees laid off in the past few weeks. At the same time, the city water authority is proposing a rate hike to make up for revenue lost to drought conservation.
In a May 5 letter to the Atlanta City Council with her proposed budget, Franklin said her plan is the best plan to serve the public’s needs.
“Can you balance a FY09 budget without a property tax increase? Yes. What is that going to take? Going back to 2002 service levels in public safety,” she wrote.
Fauver sides with a loose collection of council members opposed to raising taxes. She believes much, if not all, of the money the city needs can be found through increased efficiency and tapping revenue streams the city is currently not pursuing.
Atlanta runs a police training academy. A number of police officers join with intentions of going through training, getting some experience and then moving to other departments. Georgia law allows Atlanta to collect training costs and salaries for officers who leave the force before serving 18 months from either the hiring government or the officer themselves.
“The city has never gone after that,” Fauver said. “It could mean $3 to $4 million a year.”
She said she would like the city to seek reimbursement from drivers who damage city utility poles, and restructure several fees to cut down on paperwork and increase revenue.
Asked to comment for this story, the mayor’s office pointed to several previously taped press conferences where Franklin stated she felt her budget was the best way forward for the city.
WORKERS ‘RIFFED’
Many of the 441 workers the city laid off, or “riffed,” slang for Reduction In Force, came from the city’s public works department. Some gay residents worry the cuts in services will degrade their neighborhoods.
Jerry Facenda and his partner own the Hill Street Resort B&B in Grant Park. The bed and breakfast relies on having a neat and clean neighborhood to make guests feel safe, and Facenda worries cuts in public services and code enforcement will mean less garbage pickup and street maintenance.
“They’re supposed to pick up yard clippings every week, but sometimes it will be out there three weeks, and you just can’t have that,” he said. “You’ll see a street sweeper every three weeks. If you want your streets clean you have to get out and do it yourself.”
Former Atlanta public works employee Fred Martin survived the first round of cuts, but said he was later let go to keep someone with one more day of seniority. He spoke out against the cuts at a May 8 public hearing. Like many in public works, Martin worked for the department most of his adult life.
“When that storm hit, it was thunder, rain, sleet, hail and all that, trees were falling down, everything was falling down, everybody from 18 years up weren’t out there, you all weren’t out there, the council wasn’t out there, but public works was out there,” Martin said.
Gay former employees could have difficulties replacing the city as an employer. The city is one of the most gay-friendly businesses in Atlanta, offering domestic partner benefits and protection against job discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
BLAME GAME
In the attempt to lay blame for the budgeting mistake, a number of citizens and even some politicians have focused on Atlanta Chief Financial Officer Janice Davis. Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta) confronted the council at the May 8 public hearing.
“It’s an embarrassment that she’s still here. She needs to be walked out like some people here have been walked out. I’m just going to tell it like is, I’m sorry,” Fort said. “The economy, higher fuel costs contributed to this, but to the extent there was human incompetence by the CFO and her department we need to know.”
Fauver takes exception with Fort’s accusations.
“I think he’s absolutely wrong,” she said. “For 15 years this city has had a revolving door for the CFO position. Janice Davis is the best one we’ve had in my estimation. She is a turn-around expert. I have a tremendous respect for her.”
A systemic lack of oversight going back years accounts for some of the city’s troubles. Those problems started long before Davis took the job in 2004, Fauver said.
Fauver told how departments have reported finding off-book accounts, stacks of invoices that were not paid because they sat unfiled in desk drawers, and systems bought without purchase orders.
The city tightened its purchasing procedures and is working on new software that will allow the finance office to compare actual expenses to budget figures on a daily basis.
But the extent of the crisis still may not be fully known, Fauver warned.
“We’re making great strides right now in getting our finances in order because of this new system, but we’re still going to find out new things as well,” she said.
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