Increased spending in Cobb County’s proposed $1.28 billion budget for fiscal year 2025 includes no new programs or initiatives, and hardly any new positions in county departments. Instead, it again addresses the staffing crisis the county has faced in the wake of the pandemic.
The county plans to keep the property tax rate steady, which will still result in more revenue due to increases in home values. That will help cover a 6.3% spending increase from this year’s budget. The next fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
Much of the increase will cover newly-filled full time positions and increased pay for police officers, sheriff’s deputies and firefighters, Cobb County’s Chief Financial Officer Bill Volckmann said at a recent board meeting.
Last year’s budget also included pay raises for public safety and several new positions in the fire and 911 departments, but the raises haven’t brought down vacancy rates in those departments — unlike other departments where vacancies have been reduced.
Taking retirements and other openings into account, the county filled a net total of 76 full-time positions between April 2023 and April of this year, a success that Volckmann said is “pretty rare for us” after years of staffing issues.
This year, county data shows the vacancy rate has gone down by 5% compared to the year before. But nearly half of the 569 vacant positions are within public safety offices — police, fire and sheriff.
While staffing levels have not kept pace with the county’s population increases, the county made great headway in 2023 — the most significant staffing level improvement in over a decade, according to county data.
Newly-filled positions will cost $20.9 million more in the new budget.
Volckmann credits the 2022 pay raises the county gave nearly all staff members for the overall improvement. The county conducted a study that found Cobb County employees were making 8% less than those in other metro Atlanta counties. The board also raised the county’s minimum wage to $17 an hour.
Of the budget increase, $16.5 million accounts for additional general fund spending the board approved in the past year that now must be accounted for in the new budget. Spending approved outside of the annual budget process typically totals only $5 million, Volckmann said.
The board’s largest off-cycle spending initiative directed $8.4 million toward the pay structure for employees in the police, fire, and sheriff’s office in May. Now, instead of capping pay at 16 years, the pay will continue increasing in increments up to 25 years, which should help with retention, Volckmann said.
The police and fire departments currently have over 100 vacancies each, stressing current employees and department budgets with increased overtime, he said.
In the 2023 fiscal year, the county spent over $15 million just on overtime pay in the sheriff’s office and police and fire departments. With four months left in the current fiscal year, the county has spent $11.3 million on overtime in those departments.
Public safety spending accounts for over 60% of the county’s general fund budget increase. While staffing in other county departments has improved, public safety is still struggling to find and retain a workforce, which is an ongoing issue across the nation.
“Everybody’s trying to get officers, and there’s only so many officers to be had,” Volckmann said. “As soon as one raises (starting pay), somebody else will raise it.
“We have to be competitive, otherwise we’re going to continue to have 100-plus vacancies.”
The board is also poised to continued its yearly effort lowering the amount of money transferred out of the water system to cover general fund spending unrelated to water, a practice prior boards began decades ago that has not yet been eliminated. With this budget, the water transfer will reach its lowest yet at 5%.
How to learn more
Public hearings on the budget and the millage rate will be held July 9 at 9 a.m., July 16 at 6:30 p.m. and prior to the board’s vote on July 23 at 7 p.m.
Watch the county’s budget presentation on its YouTube channel.
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