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LOCAL
THE CHAMPION, THURSDAY, JANUARY 17-23, 2019 • Page 6
MONEY
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months of county operating expenses.
“We believe with this budget we have
achieved financial stability. In 2019 and
beyond, we’re positioning ourselves to deal
with structural deficits,” DeKalb County COO
Zach Williams said.
In years prior, Williams said the county
approved budgets that included “padded
funding” in some departments. The additional
funds left over were put into the general fund
balance. Now that the county’s fund balance
has reached approximately $103 million,
Williams said the county will more accurately
fund departments.
“We are convinced that this way of
budgeting is a much more precise, much more
transparent way of budgeting and is going to
show everyone ‘here’s what we actually need
and here’s what we say we’re going to do, and
we monitor it to ensure it’s done,”’ Williams
said. “If there are circumstances that come up,
that’s the beauty of developing a two-month
fund balance.”
During the special called budget meeting,
DeKalb County Commissioner Larry
Johnson questioned if there is a contingency
plan in place for departments that may receive
less funding in 2019.
“If you’re just giving [departments] what
they didn’t spend last year, and something
pops up, they’re going to have to come back
before [the county commission] to request
funding,” Johnson said. “When you talk about
padding, how are you handling that?”
County officials said they plan to keep an
eye on spending and monitor departments as
needed.
DeKalb County Commissioner Nancy
Jester said she agrees with how the county
plans to budget in 2019.
“It’s going to be tight, but it’s more
transparent,” Jester said. “There [are] pluses
and minuses. There are strange emergencies
that will come up, but I just think it’s more
transparent. Everybody will know it and we’ll
discuss it and it will certainly give the board
more information and more influence on the
spending policies.”
The proposed budget for 2019 will also
include a 3-percent raise for all county
employees who did not receive a raise in
October 2018. County employees will also
earn a minimum wage of $15 an hour.
DeKalb County commissioner Lorraine
Cochran-Johnson said increasing the
minimum wage to $15 an hour could be
discouraging to employees who have worked
with the county for years and earned a salary
increase based on merits.
“Was there any consideration in this
budget for employees who have served at the
minimum wage? Who were team leads within
their department? Who will now have new
hires who will be making the same salary?”
Cochran-Johnson asked.
Williams said county officials will take
merit-based pay into consideration.
“We’ve certainly been sensitive to
that in the past and will deal with it as
needed,” Williams said. “We are probably
in a much better position now to have those
conversations.”
The first scheduled public hearing meeting
on the 2019 budget will be Feb. 12.
DECREE
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than 2,000 creek crossings were
inspected. The county also said 100
miles of pipes were treated for root
control.
In 2019, DeKalb officials said
they plan to spend approximately
$ 105 million on four sewer-related
projects including repairing,
replacing and upsizing sewer pipes to
improve the system’s infrastructure.
The average cost of each project is
approximately $26.3 million.
“The county is making progress
toward meeting the consent decree
deadline and there is evidence that
the county is moving in the right
direction,” county officials said in
a statement. “Despite the recent
increase in wet-weather related
spills, the county ended the year
with an overall reduction in major
spill volume. The county remains
committed to meeting and exceeding
all requirements of the consent
decree and meets quarterly with both
EPA and EPD regarding Consent
Decree progress.”
In February of 2018, the South
River Watershed Alliance (SRWA)
accused DeKalb County of violating
the consent decree and requested the
EPA investigate. Jacqueline Echols,
president of the SRWA, said the
county still needs to clean up its act.
“DeKalb has a big problem...there
was no way they’d meet the deadline
and I think the fact the county would
even suggest it is just ridiculous,”
Echols said. “All you have to do
is look at the last four weeks, the
amount of rain we’ve gotten and the
number of sanitary sewer overflows
...it’s egregious the way [DeKalb
County] is violating the Clean Water
Act.”
Echols said it’s up to the EPA to
hold DeKalb officials accountable
for the consent decree and violations
to the Clean Water Act.
“This is just unacceptable.
Something has to be done,” Echols
said. “It comes down to enforcement.
[EPA] has to enforce the consent
decree. They have the authority to
do it and we just can’t allow the
violator to dictate the terms of how
they’re going to respond. DeKalb
is the bad guy in this. They can’t
dictate whether or not they will fix
the problem.”
County officials said penalties
for not meeting consent decree
deadlines will be at the discretion of
the EPA and EPD. If necessary, the
county can negotiate an extension on
consent decree deadlines with EPA
and EPD if approved in federal court.
The Champion contacted an EPA
official to ask what punishments
could be levied against DeKalb
County if consent decree deadline
standards are not met, but the
official was unavailable due to the
government shutdown.
Cruise lights on in Chamblee
■ 1 ■WIWIIlllllWMI II H ■■ i II I I m m
Chamblee police will now be more visible to the public. (Chamblee Police)
BY TAYLOR ROBINS
taylor@dekalbchamp.com
Chamblee police announced Jan. 4 that police vehicles
patrolling its city streets will now have cruise lights on.
Cruise lights are the static blue lights on top of police
vehicles.
According to an emailed statement from Chamblee
officials, studies have shown that cruise lights deter crime,
assist residents and others to locate officers in times of
need and help easily identify police vehicles.
Chamblee police said the use of ongoing cruise lights is
an innovative way to continue to provide increased quality
of service in conjunction with city’s priorities of quality
government service and a safe living environment.
City purchases building for new city hall
BY TAYLOR ROBINS
taylor@dekalbchamp.com
Pine Lake recently purchased
property located at 425 Allgood
Road for the city’s new city hall
building.
“This move consolidates the
administrative functions of the city
and the court under one roof and
provides our police department
much-needed space for expansion
in its current location,” Pine Lake
officials stated on the city’s website.
“The courtroom will remain in the
current location.”
Pine Lake purchased the new
location for $137,500 and funded the
purchase with the city’s cash reserve.
“Careful stewardship enabled the
mayor and city council to determine
we were in a position to make a long
discussed move of city headquarters
to our commercial district and still
maintain a healthy reserve balance,”
city officials said on Pine Lake’s
website.
According to city officials, no
major renovations are needed but
there will be modifications done to
accommodate city needs.
The current city hall and court
administration are expected to move
after renovations are completed in
the city’s second quarter.
Pine Lake’s current city hall is
located at 462 Clubhouse Drive.
No plans for the building have been
made yet.
“The building is in need of some
repair,” the city states on its website.
“We will consider a future use that
fits into our economic development
strategy and our budgetary realities.”
Pine Lake officials did not
inform the public about the building
purchase until after the purchase was
finalized; however, discussions about
the purchase were posted in city
council meeting agendas as line item
“executive session—real estate.”
