From: Williams, Zachary
Sent: Tuesday, December 15, 2009 5:47 PM
To: All Fulton County Employees
Subject: FW: Update on FY2010 Tentative Budget
Message from the County Manager to Staff on the FY2010 Tentative Budget
Tomorrow I will present before the Board of Commissioners the General Fund Tentative Budget. In fact, a copy of the
Tentative Budget went out today to the BOC for their review in anticipation of tomorrow’s meeting. Through all of our hard
work and efforts, we will present a General Fund Tentative Budget for FY2010 of $555,872,428, which is a 16.5% reduction
from the FY2009 approved budget and proposes the lowest expenditures since 2001. Based on directives by the Board of
Commissioners and the identification of additional revenue, this budget proposes $59 million in reductions to departments,
a far less significant impact than the $130 million in the Proposed Budget.
Many of you will ask the question, “What does this mean to Fulton County employees?” It means that the potential for mass
layoffs of nearly 500 employees is no longer a consideration for the county. This is something we can all be pleased about.
Can I tell you that no employees will be impacted by this budget? I cannot say that, because we are still faced with $59
million in reductions to departments, and some programs and people will be affected.
I can assure you that every effort will be made to place affected staff in appropriate vacant positions, and for those who
cannot be placed, to provide the full support and services of Personnel and Workforce Development to assist with outside
placement. We will do all that we can to assist anyone who is affected by the budget reductions.
In order to keep my commitment to open communication throughout the budget process, I am providing the summary below of the
FY2010 Tentative Budget:
Public Safety- South Fulton Tax District
The county’s Public Safety operations incurred minimal impact in the Tentative Budget. The Police Department’s budget of
$14.9 million represents 38.7% of the overall district’s budget. These funds will be used to maintain 191 positions to
perform police patrols, criminal investigations, and other public safety activities. The Fire Department’s appropriation
is 30% of the budget. This appropriation will fund 114 positions to provide fire suppression, disaster mitigation, rescue
and emergency medical services to Fulton County citizens.
Criminal Justice System
The departments making up the Criminal Justice system have a tentative budget for FY2010 of $192,932,121, and represents
34.7% of the General Fund budget. This budget represents a reduction of $26,659,646. As a result of the reduction,
anticipated impacts include:
- Decrease in Clerk of Superior Court service hours at the North and South Annex locations
- Reduction in warrant services (2 Warrant Officers)
- Elimination of Magistrate Court temporary staff ( Judicial Case Managers)
Health and Human Services
The total FY2010 tentative budget for departments that form Health and Human Services (HHS) is $155,826,802, which equates
to 28% of the General Fund budget. The HHS budget represents an overall reduction of $36,120,102. Some of the anticipated
impacts of this reduction include:
- Reduction in overall Human Services grant budget by 13.7%
- Elimination of childcare subsidies for 89 Fulton County employees
- Elimination of Sunday hours at 5 libraries
Internal Services and Governance
This group includes the Board of Commissioners, Clerk to the Commission, County Attorney, County Manager, Finance, General
Services, Information Technology, Non-Agency, Personnel, Purchasing, Registration and Elections, Tax Assessor, and Tax
Commissioner. The FY2010 tentative budget for these departments is $173,222,577. This reflects a reduction of $32,171,854.
The tentative budget includes $7 million funding for the general elections, funding for support services to other County
departments, and funding for tax administration.
Some of the anticipated impacts of this reduction include:
- Outdated countywide financial system with severely limited support
- Elimination of performance management function (business planning, performance measurement, process improvement)
Internal Services Reorganization
As part of the ongoing reorganization efforts, a proposal will be submitted to the Board in January during the budget
adoption phase to move the Office of Disability Affairs along with 5 positions currently in the Human Services Department
to the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity in the County Manager’s office. The reason for the consolidation is to locate
all employment-related compliance activities together under the County Manager.
These are just some of the highlights of the FY2010 Tentative Budget. The budget will be available to the public online
upon approval by the BOC at tomorrow’s meeting. The Tentative Budget will be presented for approval during the meeting,
which begins at 10:00 a.m. in the Assembly Hall of the Fulton County Government Center.
It is my intention to continue the County Connect Tours to discuss the Tentative Budget with employees as well. Department
heads and managers will also make sure that you stay connected and informed in staff meetings and by providing updates.
I want to personally thank each and every employee for their hard work during this process. Your enthusiasm to provide
suggestions and come up with real solutions to help us tackle this challenge was an enormous help and a huge success. We
never would have been able to minimize the impact to staff as we have done without your collaboration and cooperation.
Thank you for all that you do for the County and the citizens we serve.
Zach
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