Toccoa’s $46.6M FY 2024 Budget Was Reportedly Approved, but City Agenda Does Not Show the Vote

Toccoa City Commissioners reportedly unanimously adopted a $46.6 million operating budget for fiscal year 2024 at their June 12, 2023 regular meeting after a public hearing and second reading, according to WNEG Radio. The City Commission’s official agenda confirms that the hearing and second reading were scheduled that day, but it does not record a vote, final adoption or any changes to the proposal.

The budget was to take effect July 1, 2023 and guide routine city spending, staffing and utility-related work. City Manager Billy Morse said the proposed $46,644,945 plan was 13.1% above the prior fiscal year, driven partly by water and wastewater projects and grant-funded work. It proposed no property-tax millage increase or utility-rate increase while providing a 4% pay increase for all employees.

The process began with a first reading and public hearing on May 22, when Morse presented the proposal for public comment; WNEG Radio reported that commissioners unanimously approved that first-reading motion. The city then scheduled the June 12 hearing and second reading. WNEG reported the next day that the proposal had not changed between readings and that commissioners approved it as presented after the second hearing.

Morse presented the proposal as a way to fund city operations and capital-related needs without raising the millage rate or utility charges. WNEG reported that the plan included 185 full-time positions, a $12.1 million General Fund, a $14 million Water Fund and $2 million in SPLOST-funded capital improvements. The station also reported that no residents spoke for or against the budget and that commissioners held no further discussion before the reported unanimous vote.

The June 12 hearing and second reading are established official scheduled actions, while the reported unanimous approval is a separate account by WNEG Radio. The official agenda is a scheduling document rather than a final-action record, so it cannot establish whether the proposal was formally adopted, amended or rejected. In a related proceeding, the city’s Jan. 22, 2024 agenda placed FY 2024 budget amendments before commissioners for consideration, but that agenda likewise does not show what action followed.

The next concrete public step is to locate a June 12 meeting-minutes document, official item-result record, vote record or other city document stating the commission’s final action on the FY 2024 budget. Until then, residents can distinguish between WNEG Radio’s report of unanimous approval and the city agenda’s confirmation only that the final hearing and reading were scheduled; the record described here does not resolve whether the budget was adopted unchanged or later altered.