DeKalb County: State of the County

This morning I attended the DeKalb County 2011 State of the County Address made by DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis (photo below). This event, sponsored by DeKalb Chamber of Commerce and Council for Quality Growth, was held at the enormous Thalia Carlos Hellenic Community Center off of Clairmont Road. At 7am this morning, I wasn't quite prepared to deal with the hundreds of people that ended up attending this program but the breakfast and coffee helped.

There were a lot of politicians and elected officials from both DeKalb County and throughout the state. The event felt very political, however, I did learn of a few large impacts that will affect DeKalb County residents and business owners. I won't go into too much detail as the event was a little over 2 hours, but here are the hot button topics that I took away:

• DeKalb County saw a $12.8 million decrease in revenue in 2010
• The County has been mandated to perform $38 million in 2011 ($1.3 billion over 8 years) of infrastructure repairs
• Current County reserves are only at $9 million (County operates at $45 million spending a month-yikes!)
• 2011 goals for the County: increase reserves, job creation, government efficiency, public safety, and senior services (of course...).
• Property owners will see a tax increase of 2.32 mils (in addition to the 16% Water and Sewer rate hike)
• Addition of a new police precinct in the northern end of the county
• Construction of several new senior centers (funded fully by federal stimulus)

Again, I don't want to get into too much detail- I have about 5 pages of notes that I took during the event, but I really don't want to bore you! Just note that our county is living "paycheck to paycheck" (from Ellis' speech), and taxpayers will most likely have to foot the bill. Be sure to enjoy this years tax refund checks, as they will likely get smaller next year.  And remember, "no celebratory gunfire"!  Post a comment if you want some more info or email us at brookhavenreview@gmail.com!