A committee of residents working to prioritize Peachtree City services and recommend a millage rate to the City Council is wrapping up its work on the citizen survey it plans to conduct.
The Needs Assessment Committee is also concerned with making sure the randomly selected citizens chosen to take the survey will open the envelope so it won’t get tossed out like routine “junk” mail. So to set the envelope apart, they have selected a headline to put in red lettering on the front: “Peachtree City Tax Study.”
The committee was not unanimous on the selection, as committee member Robert Black and Jack Joyner voted no, in large part based on the possibility that a recipient might feel misled when they open the envelope only to find a survey invitation inside. The prevailing spirit, however, was that because it is tax season, residents would be likely to take the envelope header seriously and at least read what was inside.
There is some concern among the committee that the meager funding necessary for the survey will be nixed by the city council. Committee member Phil Prebor noted that the committee has “put in a pretty good chunk of effort on this.”
While that question will remain unanswered for now, the committee next week hopes to vote on the final wording of the survey questions along with the cover letter that will be received by the randomly selected residents. Also committee member Paul Lentz said he would prepare a recommended poster to promote the survey at various locations including the library, the Kedron Fieldhouse, grocery stores, coffee shops and the like.
The committee is hoping to get scientifically significant results from the survey that can be used to help the city council direct its budget process appropriately.
In other business Thursday, the committee agreed to add a question to the survey asking if residents would prefer the city to raise additional revenue via a local option sales tax, increasing franchise fees, and/or increasing hotel-motel taxes.
The committee also decided the survey should ask residents about what type of businesses they would like to see the city attract, including retail, manufacturing, education, entertainment, medical, financial and “research and development, science/technology.”
Committee member Holly Machemehl noted that some residents don’t want to see the city grow any more due to concerns of increased traffic and the like.
The committee will meet again Thursday at 11:30 at City Hall. The meetings are open to the public and more information is available at www.peachtree-city.org/needs.
