Contents of Budget Book
Overview Fund level summaries of revenues and expenditures and the impact on reserves with a
comparison to the FY 2023 revised budget.
Revenues Projections for each revenue type as well as comparisons with prior years have been
provided.
Fees/Charges Suggested schedule of fees and charges for FY 2024 with a comparison to current year
fees.
Expenditures A summary level overview of the total expenditures as well as comparisons with prior
years.
Debt A summary of future debt obligations including revenue bonds and capital leases.
Personnel Information on historical personnel levels as well as the requested and recommended
staffing changes.
Capital An overview of FY 2024 recommended projects and five-year plans for the various
capital project funds.
Details
Function, goals, and measures for each department. High level department summaries
of requested and recommended expenditures, including historical data grouped by
personnel costs and other operating costs. Summaries are followed by line item detail
for non-personnel accounts.
Revenues
• Property taxes remain the General Fund’s largest source of revenue. This budget anticipates the
millage rate will remain unchanged at 8.99 mills for the seventeenth consecutive year. A projected
13% increase in the tax digest will increase the billed amount compared to last year.
• Revenues in the Hotel/Motel Fund are collected through a tax imposed on each room night occupied
in Smyrna hotels and motels. Although FY 2021 collections were substantially lower than previous
years, FY 2022 revenues saw a significant rebound, which has continued during FY 2023. As
recreational and business travel are expected to remain strong, revenues are projected to increase
slightly over FY 2023 collections. However, with large expenditures expected for City’s upcoming
birthday celebration, a $435K use of cash reserves is budgeted.
• Emergency 911 operations are funded primarily by fees collected from telecommunications providers.
Historically, those revenues have been supplemented by a transfer from the General Fund. For FY
2024, the transfer is budgeted at $554K (25% of total revenues).
• Utility revenues in the Water/Sewer Fund are based on customer demand. Weather is unpredictable
and a significant contributing factor. Through nine months, FY 2023 revenues are tracking slightly
lower than budgeted. The FY 2024 revenue projection is 3.2% higher than the FY 2023 Revised
Budget. Built into this projection is an automatic pass-through of the Cobb County-Marietta Water
Authority’s annual increase in January (2.5% in recent years).
• Revenues projected for the Storm Water CIP include a $0.07 increase effective January 2024. At that
time, the monthly storm water fee will increase from $3.66 to $3.73. Following more sizable fee
increases of $0.50 each in 2018 and 2020, a smaller annual increase going forward should give the
City sufficient revenues to maintain its infrastructure over the next five years.
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