Contents of Budget Book
Overv
iew Fund level summaries of revenues and expenditures and the impact on reserves with a
comparison to the FY 2026 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 2027 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 2027 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
• Propert
y 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 twentieth consecutive year. A projected 3.5%
increase in the tax digest is predicted.
• Revenue
s in the Hotel/Motel Fund are collected through a tax imposed on each room night occupied
in Smyrna hotels and motels. After a brief dip during FY 2021, revenues have continued to trend
upward over the past five years. As recreational and business travel are expected to remain strong,
budgeted revenues are projected to increase over FY 2026, although actual collections are projected
to be similar to both FY 2025 and 2026. However, with large expenditures expected for City’s
upcoming birthday celebration, a $598K use of cash reserves is budgeted.
• Emerge
ncy 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
2027, the transfer is budgeted at $748K (33% of total revenues).
• Utility re
venues in the Water/Sewer Fund are based on customer demand. Through nine months, FY
2026 revenues are tracking slightly higher than budgeted. The FY 2027 revenue projection is 13.3%
higher than the FY 2026 Revised Budget. Built into this projection is an automatic pass-through of the
Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority’s annual increase in January. Additionally, a $1.8M use of
reserves is budgeted to fund a $2M CIP project for the first phase of replacing water meters.
• Reven
ues projected for the Storm Water CIP include a $0.08 increase effective January 2027. At that
time, the monthly storm water fee will increase from $3.87 to $3.95. Following more sizable fee
increases of $0.50 each in 2018 and 2020, smaller increases the last several years proved sufficient for
planned projects. The City is currently working with consultants to evaluate and plan for upgrades to
the City’s stormwater infrastructure that will provide guidance for future rate increases.
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