All Americans are facing the virus crisis and the economic crisis. Not any of us are immune to the current and future fallout that is our new reality. The most important thing that can be done now is to cope with what is happening and plan as much as it is humanly possible to do for the future. East Point is the focus of this article. We know that East Point is definitely a working class City that was already facing economic issues before the Coronavirus made an appearance. Existing economic problems are now magnified. What should be our Plan of Action? Aside from the economic actions taken by the Federal, State, and Fulton County governments East Point City government has suspended the disconnection of all utilities for sixty days. This is not nearly enough!
The Federal Government Stimulus Package will provide much needed help for workers as well as businesses. State governments will receive Block Grants to provide local governments support. Fulton County Government has suspended all evictions for sixty days. This does not mean that property owners will not filed for evictions; it means that the Court will not serve them during the sixty days. Georgia Power and Atlanta Gas Light Companies will also suspend disconnections for sixty days. While these gestures are appreciated, they are not the answer to the current problems facing the unemployed. The majority of the unemployed are having a difficult time filing for benefits due to the overwhelming number of applicants. This does not include the unemployed who do not qualify for unemployment because of their job status in the hospitality industry and independent contract workers and other job areas. We need to concentrate on East Point’s unemployed residents and what can legally be done by the City to help them, and how to minimized the economic impact that the virus will have on our City.
Let us begin with the suspension of disconnecting utilities for sixty days. What is the plan for billing residents after the sixty days? Will penalties and late fees be added to their bills? Will they be worst off and unable to move forward? I suggest that the City reduce the Electric, Water and Sewer rates by half for residents who can provide the necessary paper work showing that they are unemployed due to the virus crisis, contracted the virus. This reduction in rates should not apply to residents whose income is safe from the virus crisis, my household income is not affected. We need to do all that we can to maintain our population especially with the Census count being implemented.
Mayor and Council need to prepare an Amendment to the FY2020 Budget now! The City’s expected income is already taking a big hit because of the virus crisis in the following areas:
- Hotel/Motel tax receipts are greatly reduced.
- LOST funding will be greatly reduced.
- East Point local sales tax revenues will be greatly reduced.
- Permits, license fees and ad valorem taxes for car purchases and tags will be reduced.
- SPLOST funding will be greatly reduced.
The City’s expected Revenues will take a big hit. The City’s Expenditures must be adjusted to reflect the decline in Revenues. I strongly suggest that Mayor and Council immediately institute the following fiscal policies to reduce spending that will not affect the day-to-day operations of the City and are totally non-essential.
- Cancel all credit card spending by Mayor and Council. Collect Mayor and Council’s credit cards and place them under lock and key.
- Cancel all public events listed under Council Department in the FY2020 Budget; except the ones mandated in the City Charter for membership National League of Cities (NLC), Georgia Municipal Association (GMA), South Fulton Municipal Association (SFMA), Mayor and Council’s salaries and benefits; and Mayor and Council’s phone bills for City distributed phone.
- Suspend all travel funding by Mayor and Council except the $2,000 in the Council Ward Expense Accounts. CLICK HERE: 022-09_Resolution for the Adoption if Council Guidelines for the use of Council Ward Expense Account Funds
- The Mayor’s Office Budget should be streamlined to reflect only essential spending.
- All capital projects should be suspended/cancelled until the economy and stock market stabilizes. The SPLOST funding will dictate its own spending limitations.
- Mayor and Council should get rid of the Exempt Employee Policy that allows Department Heads and some other upper management employees to not adhere to an eight hour workday by not clocking in with the other employees. Comp Time should still apply for all contract employees.
- Suspend all raises and promotions until further notice. City policy already addresses the salary for Acting Supervisory Heads.
- The City should also suspend/cancel all hiring for non-essential services Citywide. Public safety personnel should be exempt.
Mayor and Council need to make sure that the PUBLIC has proper notification of all Work Sessions and Council Meetings for the discussions and voting on any FY2020 Budget Amendment proposed changes. This notification should not be limited to social media and the City’s website. East Point has hundreds of residents with so smart phones and land lines. I would suggest using the Utilities Bill Newsletter -The VERGE for that purpose instead of using it for publicity shots of Mayor and Council. No one should even consider raising the millage rate that is limited to 15 mills. Likewise, residents should not have to pay increased property taxes to make-up the expected Revenues shortfall when prudent financial policies can be implemented in a timely manner.
