Letter to the Editor: Suzanne Brown says the Mayor is no fiscal conservative

OK, it’s election season, and the hype is in full swing. Mayor Kim Learnard is running for re-election, and her recent ad touting her fiscal conservatism is a lot more fiction than fact.  As a current city council member, I have seen everything firsthand.  Her desperation to convince the voters that she is somehow a “fiscal conservative” falls short on every count.  I know, as I have had to endure it all.

First, she writes checks to Act Blue, the Democratic Party’s major online fundraising platform, and those donations are targeted to some of the most non-conservative candidates ever on a ballot, including Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and the PAC of Stacey Abrams, among others. 

Let’s start with the FY 2025 millage rate. Last year’s 0.06 reduction was not a full rollback—it was still another tax increase because the reduction was so infinitesimal. This year, Council Member Clint Holland and I refused to approve the Mayor’s proposed tax increase budget for FY 2026. Since there are currently only four members on the council, Holland and I could leverage our two votes this time around.

I proposed a plan to reduce the budget to the level of a full millage rollback without any employee reductions.  The mayor refused to go along and fought for an hour to have the original plan presented by the City Manager, which included another property tax increase.  Council Member Holland and I were going to vote down any proposal that did not include a full millage rollback.

Knowing that she did not have her traditional three-member sledgehammer majority, she had to give in and vote for my full rollback proposal. And now, she has the nerve to claim fiscal conservatism and decreasing taxes after fighting against my proposal?  Seriously?

The mayor is also claiming credit for capping property assessments? Laughable. HB 581 was passed by the Georgia Legislature and signed by Governor Kemp. Kim had absolutely nothing to do with it—though she’ll benefit from it on her $1.4 million lakefront home.  However, she is claiming the cap by the legislature for her fake conservative credentials.

The mayor is also taking credit for the move to expand tax exemptions for our seniors. That credit belongs to former Mayor Steve Brown, who created the senior homestead exemption, for low income seniors, in 2005. In fact, Kim sat on the City Council for eight years and as mayor for three years, and never once offered to increase the exemption due to decades of inflation. 

Truth be told, I was the one who proposed increasing the senior homestead exemption after Steve Brown asked me to revive the issue, and I successfully got it back on the agenda. The revised exemption is on the November 4, 2025, ballot. If voters don’t approve it, the outdated version remains. Mayor Learnard didn’t initiate it, didn’t revise it by herself, and can’t claim it as a victory after ignoring it for the 11+ years she’s been on the city council. I brought it up during my first year on council, and fought for an even bigger tax exemption than the one that was approved by council.  

The mayor harps about the AAA bond rating? Peachtree City has had that before, and former Mayor Steve Brown was the first to achieve it with a much leaner budget.  Kim’s refusal to scrutinize the budget means she has achieved the AAA rating by constantly increasing taxes and fees while hauling in revenue well in excess of the budget and not returning those funds to the taxpayers.

The mayor brags about balanced budgets?  Georgia law mandates it! That’s not leadership; it’s compliance. Keep in mind that she balances the budget by constantly hiking your taxes, no stewardship involved.

Suzanne Brown, Council Member

Peachtree City, Ga