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The City Council of Peachtree City passed a substantial pay increase for city employees at the April 6 council meeting.
For public safety employees this means a $6,000 signing bonus with starting pay at $58,800 with an upper range of $105,661. Employees in other departments will get a $2,000 signing bonus. All employees will also receive a benefits package upgrade.
I was shocked to watch the news reports of Mayor Kim Learnard telling the media that a sizable increase in employee pay is possible without a tax increase. What in the world is she talking about?
Stop misleading the public!
Some of us were gasping for air when the WSB News anchor introduced the story on the considerable pay increases saying, “This won’t cost taxpayers a cent.” And, yes, the news crew got that straight from Mayor Kim Learnard. The reporter on the scene also said, “The city says no taxes will be raised to pay for it all.”
You do not have to be an accounting whiz to question the veracity of the impenitent mayor’s astonishing claim. Maybe Learnard has been purchasing lotto tickets with city funds and hit the jackpot.
We already know that heavy property assessment increases and Learnard’s not rolling back the city’s millage rate led to a thumping tax increase (see: https://thecitizen.com/2022/08/22/peachtree-city-raises-taxes-17-as-part-of-a-fiscal-year-2023-budget-of-46-3-million/). We also know that the previous tax increases had our reserve funds hovering around an exceedingly high 50 percent.
Learnard already raised our taxes for 2023 and, yes, it is costing taxpayers a substantial amount of money. And once she has depleted the funds from those tax increases, of course, she will have to raise the taxes again to cover the new additional costs in perpetuity.
When she nonchalantly tells reporters that a massive increase in expenditures is not a big deal and somehow, it’s free, not costing the taxpayers a cent, Learnard is being downright mendacious.
What the mayor doesn’t tell you
Years ago, my city council installed an early retirement program for public safety employees, allowing retirement at age 55 or at 25 years of service.
Keep in mind that not only are the taxpayers covering the new signing bonuses and the new significant pay increases in perpetuity, but also paying for significantly increased retirement costs moving forward.
In case you did not know, you as a taxpayer fund an early retirement program for police, firefighters, and EMTs. Public safety personnel receives unreduced early retirement at age 55 with a minimum of 10 years of service or at any age with a minimum of 25 years of service. The retirees’ medical insurance premiums (which continually increase) are also covered on a sliding scale of up to 100 percent.
Was the increased cost of early retirement for public safety employees ever factored into the analysis for the bonuses and raises? Was there an actual analysis beyond the “this is what other cities are paying” reason the mayor gave the television reporter? For some reason, I doubt it.
Would it be possible for the city government to project the total additional cost to the taxpayers, assuming full staffing in public safety, over the next 10 and 20 years? And would it be possible to pass those figures on to the taxpayers?
No comfort level
This is not a matter of whether employees need pay increases or not. Rather, it’s a matter of can the mayor be trusted, and does she know what she is doing. Seriously, how can anyone approve such a significant increase in expenditures and then tell the news media it will not cost the taxpayers a cent?
The two newest councilmen seem to be offering some direction. The citizen volunteer Planning Commission bravely called out the City Council for taking their authority away and they got it restored.
However, the mayor seems to keep pulling items out of her hat, and we never know what is coming next (see: https://thecitizen.com/2023/03/27/opinion-city-officials-flush-with-tax-money-want-to-cut-citizen-input/).
I saw that Suzanne Brown (no relation) who consistently attends the council meetings and has brought many problems with the local government to light has entered to run for one of the city council posts up for election this November. I have seen her in action. She is a knowledgeable and reliable grassroots citizen.
The thought of Brown teaming up with Councilmen Frank Destadio and Clint Holland looks promising. We would not have to worry about Learnard and her lack of direction at that point.
For now, let’s see if the mayor can get the city government to project the total additional cost to the taxpayers, assuming full staffing in public safety, over the next 10 and 20 years.
[Brown is a former mayor of Peachtree City and served two terms on the Fayette County Board of Commissioners. You can read all his columns by clicking on his photo below.]
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