Speakers, including a former mayor of Brookhaven, implored the city council to reconsider a proposal to remove the millage rate cap from its charter and instead, let the voters decide the fate of a tax increase.
The remarks came during public comment at the Nov. 5 Brookhaven City Council meeting, before and during, a public hearing about the city’s 2026 budget.
Brookhaven City Manager Christian Sigman had presented the administration’s 2026 proposed $42.7 million operating and capital budget at the council’s Oct. 21 meeting.
It includes a proposal to increase the millage rate to 3.54, which would represent a hike of 0.8 mills from the current rate of 2.74 mills and require removing the millage rate cap from the city charter.
The estimated annual impact of the proposed millage rate increase would be $240 for the average homesteaded residential property with a value of $775,000, according to Sigman.
According to city attorney Jeremy Berry, the ability to remove the parameters stems from a 1983 “unofficial opinion” by then-Attorney General Michael Bowers that “says this could be done by home rule.”
J. Max Davis, who served as Brookhaven’s first mayor from 2012 to 2015, said the council shouldn’t decide on eliminating the millage cap without public input.
“Let them vote like the charter said,” Davis said. “Don’t take this power away from the people. Let them decide. There was a reason that the [millage] cap was in there, so that we would always ensure that it doesn’t go up beyond a certain level.”
Davis also disputed the 1983 opinion that Berry cited, saying that “an unofficial opinion is not what should be guiding this council.”
Davis said he talked to current Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr last week about the 1983 opinion, and that there may be a ruling on the issue “at some point down the road.”
I think someone is giving you bad advice, and I think this is bad form for the City of Brookhaven,” Davis said. “If this happens without the consent of the people, there will be litigation on it.”
Brookhaven resident Eric Hovdesven, along with other speakers, said city officials need to tighten the reins on their spending rather than increasing the 2026 budget.
“I feel there has been too much money spent on City Centre and projects that don’t seem to go anywhere,” Hovdesven said.
Resident Edwin Sims said, while he is generally pleased with the services the city provides, he “begged” the council to “not take away our ability to have referendums on tax increases.”
According to a staff memo, major expenses driving the need for increased revenues include:
- 911 funding of $1,039,775 to meet the contractual obligations of the city’s agreement with the Chattahoochee River 911 Authority (ChatComm);
- full-year funding for staffing the Brookhaven Police Department’s real time crime center;
- $750,000 to replenish the city’s fund balance reserves;
- $516,090 for employee health insurance increases;
- $440,525 for parks and City Centre maintenance.
Major capital improvement projects include the Windsor/ADR roundabout construction procurement, detailed design and engineering for the I-85 pedestrian bridge connecting Executive Park and the Peachtree Creek Greenway, new street paving totaling 12.41 miles, continued funding of the city’s sidewalk infill projects, and continued funding of the city’s sign replacement program.
As the proposed budget and related ordinance change were being heard for the first time, no vote was taken on the measure.
