Toccoa’s reported FY2025 budget adoption would raise taxes and utility charges

Toccoa City Commissioners unanimously adopted a roughly $54 million FY2025 budget on June 10, 2024, after a second public hearing at which no residents spoke for or against the plan, WNEG Radio reported. The station said the budget would raise the city’s property-tax rate from 5.2 mills to 6.0 mills and increase charges affecting sewer, solid-waste and natural-gas customers. The reported adoption is the latest development, though no official City Commission vote record or final resolution is identified here to independently establish the action’s legal effect.

The decision matters because the city’s annual operating plan reaches both municipal services and household costs. The proposal totaled $53,956,965 across funds, including $12.45 million for the general fund, $17.49 million for water and wastewater, and $14.26 million for natural gas, according to WNEG Radio’s account of the draft resolution. For property owners, the proposed 0.8-mill increase was just over 13 percent; for utility customers and people seeking new connections, the plan also included higher recurring service charges and tap fees.

The public process began with a May 21 hearing and first reading formally scheduled on the City Commission agenda. In advance of that meeting, WNEG Radio reported that the proposed budget included the tax increase, a $2 increase to the sewer base rate, solid-waste increases, higher natural-gas base rates and higher water and sewer tap fees. Before the June 10 meeting, the station reported that commissioners were expected to hold a second reading and hearing before voting. Its June 13 story then reported unanimous approval after the hearing drew no public comment.

City officials described rising costs tied to water and wastewater service—including chemicals, required system upgrades and maintenance of aging equipment—as reasons for the proposed increases, WNEG Radio reported. City Manager Fredda Wheeler told the station that the millage increase would be minimal and discussed the utility changes. The plan would raise the residential natural-gas base rate from $11 to $20, commercial and industrial service from $22 to $50, and interruptible-service base charges from $201 to $300, with a proposed additional 3 cents per CCF. WNEG Radio reported no speakers at the final hearing, but that absence does not show how residents outside the meeting viewed the increases.

The May 21 agenda is an official agenda record showing a proposed hearing and first reading, not a completed adoption. WNEG Radio’s later reporting attributes a unanimous June 10 vote and describes the plan as adopted, including the 6.0-mill rate and increased charges. That reporting establishes an attributed account of what occurred, but it does not independently verify whether commissioners amended the proposal before acting, whether a final resolution was adopted, or which individual tax, utility and tap-fee changes ultimately took effect.

The next public-facing step is locating the City Commission record for the May 21 meeting and any later proceeding, particularly the June 10 meeting reported by WNEG Radio. Those records should determine whether the FY2025 budget was adopted as proposed, amended or otherwise disposed of, and whether the tax, utility-service and connection-fee increases were approved and implemented. Until then, residents have a reported outcome but not a documented official final-action record establishing the governing terms.