Macon-Bibb commissioners ‘uncertain’ about proposed budget bottom line

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Macon-Bibb commissioners are working on creating one tax rate for all residents and making sure all employees are getting equal pay. They say the amount of uncertainty with the budget’s bottom line is challenging and leaders want to make sure they get the numbers right.

After the mayor’s initial budget proposal, Macon-Bibb commissioners are checking line after line preparing for inevitable spending cuts.

“The revenue drives everything. So we hope to get that right,” Commissioner Gary Bechtel said.

Members of the operations and finance committee met for the first time since the fiscal year 2015-16 budget was introduced and they have questions.

“We’re making a lot of cuts and we’re asking departments to do a lot. So we want to make sure that our numbers are accurate,” Commissioner Virgil Watkins said.

A state charter requires the consolidated government cut its budget by 5 percent every year for the next four years. While the current $147 million proposal would a 15% reduction — ahead of the ordered schedule — commissioners aren’t sure if the numbers are panning out.

“Out of about 15 of these, this has the most unknown because of the incentives that were put in place,” Bechtel said.

A large portion of creating the required balanced budget is based on the amount of employees that may or may not take an offered retirement package. Nearly 400 are eligible for the deal.

“We’re estimating a low figure within each department a low figure in terms of retirements for the purpose of not overestimating that,” Bechtel said.

Some commissioners are worried the proposed budget is overestimating the government’s revenue.

“If we can’t reach our revenue number, then that effects everything else,” Bechtel said.

“We don’t want to find ourselves in a situation where we overestimated our revenues and underestimated our expenses creating a situation where we would need to go and fund balance or make drastic cuts in the middle of the budget year,” Watkins said.

It’s a route leaders are hoping to avoid. They’re concerned not knowing which departments would be affected or how the proposed pay scale adjustments would affect eligible employees is leaving a gray area in the budget’s bottom line.

“You know 20-25% cuts to those departments, it doesn’t need to be a maybe/if scenario. We need to be able to tell people up front. This is exactly what’s going to be different and that’s kind of what we’re lacking today,” Watkins said.

Commissioners say even after the finalized budget is in place, they’re still going to review the numbers to see if any adjustments need to be made. The consolidated government must have a budget ready by July 1, 2015.