Fulton County

begins 2002 in a strong financial position.

In fact, the

Board of Commissioners has insured that the government's finances are

the best they have been in recent years.

The Board of

Commissioners recently adopted the county's 2002 budget.

The board approved

a realistic, balanced budget, while weighing the many competing demands

for services throughout the state's most populous county.

The $599.9

million general fund, which increased 7.5 percent from 2001, supports

countywide services such as the criminal justice system, health and humans

services, road maintenance, the 33 branches of the Atlanta-Fulton Public

Library System, arts programs, elections, and tax assessments and collections.

It is reasonably expected that this budget will have a $60.7 million reserve

at the end of 2002.

The county's

criminal justice system, a mandated function, requires more funding every

year. This is largely a result of Georgia's "two strikes laws."

The board will

provide the criminal justice system with a $173.4 million appropriation.

This funding supports jail operations, the district attorney, various

courts Superior, Juvenile, State and Probate the county marshall, solicitor,

and the public defender. This allocation constitutes 29 percent of the

general fund.

Almost one-fifth

of Fulton residents live below the poverty level, thus creating a need

for more health and human services. With 48.8 percent of the county's

population classified as low-to-moderate income, the needs of these individuals

exceeds the county's ability to fund all desired programs.

The 2002 budget

provides increases to all areas of health and human services. For example,

Grady Hospital will receive $78.9 million, a 4.5 percent increase from

2001. While Grady functions as a regional hospital, only Fulton and DeKalb

counties provide funding for this medical safety net used by many of the

region's citizens.

Additionally,

Fulton will provide a $32.2 million supplement to the state's funding

for the Department of Health and Wellness, $24.3 million for the Department

of Human Services and a $14.2 million supplement to the state's operation

of the Fulton County Department of Family and Children Services. In total,

health and human services funding makes up 25 percent of the general fund.

Fulton does

not have access to a special local option sales tax since the county dedicates

a penny of its sales tax to MARTA operation.

Consequently,

managing the county's roads program is always a challenge. This year,

the county will provide $16 million for its portion of the Regional Transportation

Improvement Program.

The county

also provides municipal-type services such as police, fire, parks and

land use planning to residents living in unincorporated areas. Funding

for these services comes from the $104.6 million special services district

fund. This budget increased 5.1 percent from 2001 and is expected to have

a reserve of $14 million at the end of 2002.

The Board of

Commissioners is fully committed to not only providing necessary services

to the county's 828,100 residents, but to also ensure the county's work

force is appropriately compensated. In this regard, the board approved

a January 4 percent and a July 2 percent across-the-board pay raise for

county employees.

In conclusion,

Fulton County government begins 2002 in an excellent financial position

with a work force dedicated to serving all county citizens.