Gwinnett To Hold Line on Property Taxes in 2014

Gwinnett County plans to give its workers a 3 percent pay raise, and would spend $2 million to implement Obamacare in its proposed 2014 budget.

But it plans no property tax increase, in part because the long-suffering tax digest finally has turned upward.

"I never thought I'd see the day when 2.4 percent (increase in the county tax digest) would look so good," Gwinnett Commission Chairman Charlotte Nash said Tuesday (Nov. 19), shortly after the planned 2014 budget was rolled out.

The new budget, which is scheduled for approval on Jan. 7, 2014, would be about $1.51 billion, a decrease of 0.09 percent from 2013. That includes an operating budget of $1.02 billion (down 7.1 percent) and a capital expenditures budget of $485.5 million (up 18.8 percent).

And the county foresees that it will be able to let the current millage rate of 7.40 stand for 2014. The millage rates for the special service districts that were created after the Service Delivery Strategy settlement also would be unchanged.

Financial Services Director Maria Woods estimates that the property tax turnaround will mean about $6.8 million in revenue in 2014.

That means that county workers, which includes police officers and firefighters, would get a 3 percent raise, their first salary increase since 2009.

"Every department is concerned about the quality of people they are losing," said Marian Lucia, one of the members of a citizens panel that gave input into the county budget process.

A public hearing on the proposed budget will be on Dec. 9. Also, people now can leave written comments on the budget on the county website.

More details on the Gwinnett 2014 budget proposal are on the county website.

-- What do you think of the county's planned budget? Tell us in the comments below.

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