It's a good thing they took more time with the budget

Today's AJC is reporting even worse news than expected for DeKalb property tax collections.

DeKalb readies for tax increase to offset revenue shortfall

A preliminary report released Monday showed property values dropped 10.5 percent in the county, more than double what was projected for the budget. That created a $25 million hole for commissioners -- who have sliced $33.6 million to create a $529 million budget.

A majority of commissioners said that meant another round of cuts, and, for the first time, consideration of a tax hike.

“It’s going to have to be a mix,” said Commissioner Lee May, who heads the budget committee. “The fact remains, we have a real revenue problem.”

And our school board is certainly considering the same thing - making for the possibility of a double tax hike. Except that homeowners will feel the school tax hike more, since school taxes account for approximately 70% of their annual property tax bills.

The school board very nearly passed a budget at their last meeting that spent all of the projected income along with a good portion of our reserves. Luckily, the budget was pulled in order to have more discussion and conduct some research. Now that we know the tax collections are far less than even the dismal projection, what will our board propose to fill the gap? Where else can spending be cut?

Cut from the same cloth

Sigh. This is beginning to get tiring. We have a school system and county leaders who not only won't work together for the greater good of the people (as in, those who pay their salaries), but seem to have a culture of greed, corruption and entitlement that knows no bounds.

From today's AJC:

Five employees in the DeKalb County CEO’s office and three county commissioners’ assistants got raises, despite other workers receiving a pay cut.

A joint investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Channel 2 Action News found 956 DeKalb employees got increases in pay last year, but the majority of them were from promotions.

Many of those increases also included new employees who got bumps in pay after completing a six-month probation period, records show.

“There is no across-the-board merit raise or cost of living adjustment because we haven’t had the budget for it,” said Burke Brennan, interim spokesman for the CEO. “All of the people who got raises were at the requests of their supervisors. And there were very few who got straight merit increases.”

Those “very few” include employees who work directly for CEO Burrell Ellis, Commissioner Connie Stokes and Commissioner Sharon Barnes Sutton. The raises in the CEO’s office totaled about $32,000; Stokes’ office totaled about $20,000 and Sutton’s office totaled about $4,000.

Records obtained by the AJC also show that Ellis changes the scope of work for several of his employees, including promoting one woman from a housing project manager to deputy chief of staff – a job that carried a $31,000 raise.

But other employees – including police officers, firefighters, sanitation workers and road crews – were denied increases. They ended up losing money from unpaid holidays.

Kudos to one person - Elaine Boyer - who did not give her staff increases, said she was shocked to learn about raises, had these words:

“The thing that frosts me is that I felt the leadership was supportive of giving furloughs and unpaid holidays,” she told the AJC. “If we start having a special class of people, it’s going to hurt morale and turn people against each other.”

DeKalb teachers' pay could decrease 6.25 percent

From Today's AJC

DeKalb County teachers could see their pay decrease as much as 6.25 percent next school year.

The school board voted unanimously Friday morning to issue about 8,000 contracts to teachers, principals and other certified staff for next school year with the option of a pay reduction or furlough days. The pay cut is capped at 6.25 percent.

DeKalb schools must cut at least $88 million from its budget for next year. The board is scheduled to approve the budget in May, but teacher contracts must be issued before April 15.

“This does not bind the board to take any particular action, it just binds the board to leave the door open,” board chairman Tom Bowen said.

Interestingly, the AJC is also reporting this:

About a quarter of DeKalb County’s residents weren’t counted in the last census, causing the county to lose about $41 million in federal funding, County Commissioner Connie Stokes announced Wednesday.

That felt like the old one-two punch!

Could it be? Or is it just a dream...

CEO Burrell Ellis is inviting us to a gathering of DeKalb County community and neighborhood leaders who are "working together to strengthen our neighborhoods". This event is billed as "a roundtable discussion on developing a new vision for neighborhood empowerment in DeKalb County". Personally, I'm not sure what this means, but I hope they will include a discussion about our schools. The event will be held on Saturday, November 14, from 8:30 am- noon. If you're interested in attending, you must register at www.OneDeKalb.com.

Support the Fugees Family!

Dear Friends,

This summer in partnership with Agnes Scott College, we ran a six week summer academic camp for 86 boys. Each day we biked five miles to the college, read, wrote poems, performed group challenges and biked back to Clarkston. I would like to share with you one of my favorite poems written by the boys:

I am like a river eroding a mountain
Sometimes soldiers sob
I'm from a country where you always hear boom or pow.
I am a man of duties.
Sometimes I wonder if the bombing and killing will ever stop.
Sometimes my secrets are exposed. I am a secret swept under the rug.
Sometimes I try to fly. Sometimes I'm frightened to cry.
I am a leader who fights for his people.
I'm from a nation of destruction and war.
I'm from a marvelous galaxy.
I'm from a terrorizing place.
I am Menace Balegamire a unique and special kid.

I remember watching Menace recite his poem this summer at our showcase. He stood up in front of 200 people, recited his poem and showed us the movie he had made to go with it. I remember nodding my head when he said he was a unique and special kid. Knowing that all our kids are and that we want to provide the best for them. The best programs, the best teachers, the best opportunities.

Some days the kids ask what it is that I do all day. I try to explain to them my daily routine of running the organization, managing a staff, fundraising, and keeping them all in line. One of the kids gave the most accurate job description: "You write letters, you talk to people, you coach, and you fire people."

Last night as I was catching up on emails I came across America's Giving Challenge on Facebook. This is an opportunity for us to raise money and win $50,000 for our organization. To do this we need you get involved and give. If you have ever thought about giving to us now is the time. We need every person to give and to get their friends to give. There are 3600 people on this list. If every person who reads this email gives then we will win this competition hands down. Your $10 daily donation could increase 8 fold when we win this competition. No organization can sit back in this economy and expect money to just come in. I ask you to commit yourself to giving $10/day for five days in this challenge. I am personally committing to giving $10/day for the duration of the challenge (29 days) because I have 86 boys and their families who are all "unique and special." And I believe our Fugees Family can do this.

Click for America's Giving Challenge: Team Fugees

Coach Luma

FugeesFamily.org
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Share this on your Facebook Page and help the team win this challenge!
Also, check out Coach Luma's blog - it's much better than this one!
Many of these kids are students in DeKalb County Schools - they need our support. Please donate!