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Photo by Alexander Grey
Following a first reading Oct. 2, the Hartwell City Council met Oct. 13 to vote on its proposed 2024 budget.
The council voted 7-0 to approve the budget which stands at $7,062,985, and includes a payment of $540,850 towards the construction of the new Hartwell Fire Station.
“It’s a good budget,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “We do want the SPLOST vote to pass, but we’ve worked really hard to make sure we could handle it if it didn’t”
City Manager Jon Herschell said next year’s budget proposes a rollback of the millage rate by 4.5 percent from 9.267 to 8.708. Additionally, the budget calls for a 5.25 percent salary increase for city of Hartwell employees.
During its meeting on Oct. 2, Herschell said the budget calls for several utility rate increases. The proposed water rates for 2024 will increase from $4.69 to $5.53 for those residents outside the city limits, but not for those living in Hartwell.
Herschell said the water rates haven’t increased in several years despite an exponential increase in the costs for services.
Depending on consumption, the rate increase will bring Hartwell between $100,000 and $150,000 in additional revenue next year.
Additionally, Herschell announced an increase in gate charges on gas rates for industrial gas users only with no change to its commercial and residential customers. He stated the revenue gained by the increase would bring in an additional $200,000 to $300,000 depending on consumption.
The city is also proposing an increase on trash service for its residents from $17.47 a month to $20.97, but Herschell said the solid waste program runs pretty even.
During the Oct. 13 meeting, Herschell said the city had budgeted $50,000 for a new trash truck with a retractable arm. The modernized truck reduces the trash collection crew from three to one.
“As we modernize our trash pickup we can shift those people to other departments where they are much more needed,” Johnson said. “That whole attrition and forward thinking is really starting to pay off.”
Herschell told the council there was one minor change to the budget from its first reading regarding animal control.
“One correction is the county notified us that they are no longer in the animal control business as the county animal control guy abruptly resigned,” Herschell said.
Herschell explained that he shuffled some things around in the police budget to cover animal control for the city of Hartwell. Herschell said that officer Chris Lack will be handling animal control moving forward.
“The county and city for years have partnered together on animal control and that’s not an easy position to fill,” Johnson said.
Regarding animal control in the county, The Sun reached out to County Administrator Terrell Partain.
“The work load got so bad that our animal control guy was working seven days a week,” Partain said. “We notified the city in August that beginning the first week of October the county would no longer provide animal control services for the city of Hartwell.”
Partain said the animal control position with Hart County is currently open as they look to fill the void as soon as possible. In the meantime, Partain said that animal control services for the county rests with the Hart County Sheriff’s Office until the position gets filled.
Johnson said will rolling the property taxes back and a minor rate adjustment on utilities, the 2024 budget is great.
“What we can do in this little town with our budget and our utilities and keep doing the nice things to add to the quality of life is pretty impressive,” Johnson said. “I think we are the envy of Northeast Georgia.”