We can afford to give our taxpayers a break, Mayor Jere Wood told Channel 2s Mike Petchenik.
Wood said the city has a surplus this year that hed like to give it back to taxpayers. He said the city had $26 million in reserves and could afford the millage rate decrease.
If we can cover everything we covered last year and give our taxpayers a break, why not? Wood said.
Woods proposal would have given homeowners an average of $12 off their tax bills and cost the city about $500,000.
But this week, in a 4-1 vote, Roswells City Council voted down Woods proposal, opting instead to keep the tax rate the same as it was during the last budget year.
My concern is that we are looking at cutting our level of service by reducing this millage rate, Council Member Nancy Diamond told Petchenik.
Diamond told Roswell shed rather see the money used for road paving projects and other needs.
For basically whats a dollar a month for each household, we can do a lot of good with that, she said. We dont feel like thats an effective use of the money.
Diamond said the city still doesnt fully know how the Fulton County tax digest is going to pan out this year. Early projections showed a slight drop from last year.
It just seems irresponsible at this point to be counting on money we dont know is gonna be there, she said.
Homeowner Richard Sarhadian told Petchenik his only wish is that his property taxes dont go up.
If it stays the same, thats good, he said. If it comes $12 less, thats much better.
Roswells City Council will take a second and final vote on the budget Wednesday.