Gwinnett Begins 2014 Budget Process

Gwinnett County is set to begin its 2014 budget process, and there are indications that things might not be as dire as they have been in recent years.

According to a county news release, departments will present their budget proposals to county leaders on Sept. 4-9 and 9-10.

The proposed budget will be made available to the public at the same time it is presented to commissioners, which will occur before Dec. 1. A public hearing on the budget will be held in December. By law, the Board of Commissioners must adopt the annual budget during its first meeting in January 2014.

Gwinnett leaders have been challenged in recent years by the declining tax digest, due to the real estate collapse.  However, the tax digest is expected to level out and may even show slight growth if there is no further decline next year.

No revenue area is expected to generate large gains. “Local government revenues lag behind what is happening in the economy so it will take a while to see positive impacts from any recovery,” Nash said in the release.

As before, Nash has asked several citizens to serve on a review panel for the budget. This year, those citizens are Mark Brock (Gwinnett County schools), Norwood Davis (12Stone Church), Marian Lucia (retired from Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta) and Herman Pennamon (retired from Georgia Power).

Gwinnett leaders will prepare the 2014 budget without assuming any revenues from the proposed SPLOST vote set for Nov. 5. The current SPLOST runs through March 31, 2014.

The presentations will be videotaped and made available to the public on TVgwinnett government access cable television and on demand at the county website.

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