One Day Before Budget Vote, Robocalls Hit Brookhaven Again

One day before the Brookhaven City Council adopts its first-ever budget, another anonymous robocall went out to residents, claiming that Mayor J. Max Davis is planning to increase property taxes.

Later Monday afternoon, the city responded with a Q&A about the budget on its website.

Patch will be live streaming Tuesday's historic city council meeting, which will take place at the DeKalb PATH Academy.

Back on March 4, an almost identical call was issued, in which an unidentified female said, "Brookhaven Mayor J. Max Davis has broken his promise to protect taxpayers by including a property tax increase in new taxes on electricity, land line phone services."

Less than an hour later - also on March 4 - came an automated call from Davis himself, claiming "an anonymous, illegal and misleading autocall went out to Brookhaven residents this afternoon. Please disregard this message as it is extremely inaccurate ..."

Monday's call - this time, from an unidentified male - was almost identical in its content.

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Here is the text from the city's website, regarding the budget:

What is the proposed budget for FY13? The proposed budget is $16.465 million.

This budget is a work in progress and subject to change depending on the DeKalb County tax digest.

What does the budget include?

The budget includes operating expenses for the city, including administration, police, community development, parks and recreation, public works, legal and other city services. This includes funding to establish Brookhaven’s own police department.

What is the proposed millage rate?

The maximum millage rate permitted under Brookhaven’s charter is 3.35 mills. This rate is being used as a starting point until mid-year budget adjustments are made, which likely will occur in July. During these summer budget adjustments, the Mayor and Council will set a lower millage rate.

Will Brookhaven residents see a tax increase?

The Brookhaven city charter caps the city millage rate at 3.35 mills. Brookhaven will not raise taxes above this cap. At the time when the legislature approved this capped millage rate and during the city referendum campaign, this rate represented a number that gave a small tax cut or maintained the current tax levels for most Brookhaven taxpayers, even franchise fees.

However, just days before the city referendum, the DeKalb County CEO reduced the level of revenue that goes to city residents, effectively raising taxes on city residents. DeKalb removed money intended only for police services and moved it to the county’s general fund, which ultimately impacted the amount of revenue coming to all cities in DeKalb.

At the time, all nine cities in DeKalb – regardless of location, demographics or political makeup – objected to the county’s manipulation of the budget numbers and signed a joint letter protesting this move by the county, which effectively raised taxes on only city residents.

Additionally, the DeKalb County school board has raised its tax rate by 1 mill and the county increased water rates by nearly 13 percent this year. Brookhaven does not control either of these rates.

Is what DeKalb County did legal?

Ga. Rep. Mike Jacobs (R-Brookhaven) has sent a letter to Attorney General Sam Olens, requesting a legal opinion on DeKalb County’s ability to raise the millage rate beyond the rollback rate without holding public hearings as required by state law.

When will Brookhaven set the millage rate?

The city will finalize the millage rate by July after receiving the tax digest and other revenue figures, including the HOST sales tax credit, from DeKalb County.

What factors are impacting this budget?

As expected, the city’s revenue for this first year budget will be less than future years because the city is not drawing from a full year of revenue. Brookhaven’s budget also is contingent on receiving franchise fees and DeKalb County setting the tax rate, HOST rate, tax digest and property assessment. Brookhaven will not learn these final revenue numbers until the summer, and therefore will not know how far below the capped millage rate that the city can set its tax rate.

What are Brookhaven’s sources of revenue?

The majority of the city’s revenue is contingent on the county tax digest. Some of the major revenue sources include real property tax; personal property tax; HOST sales tax; business and occupation tax; motor vehicle tax; franchise fees.

See Also:

Major Decision Coming Tuesday for Brookhaven

Budget Vote Postponed for Another Public Hearing

Robocalls Blast Brookhaven Residents Monday Afternoon

Patch's Extensive Coverage of the Brookhaven City Council