When founding our city of Brookhaven, residents were primarily motivated by quality-of-life concerns. In the 13 years since, we have formed a certified police department (fully-staffed and utilizing a host of modern technologies) to drive crime rates down substantially, we have paved dozens of miles of new sidewalks and improved hundreds of miles of roadways, and our parks, multi-use trails, and green spaces are among the best in the region.
Our city government is also now feeling the very real squeeze of inflation. This means the price to maintain our city at your expected levels of service excellence has also gone up. Please keep in mind that the property tax bill you will receive later this summer will go primarily to DeKalb County and the DeKalb School District, with only 7 – 8 % of the average homeowner’s bill being city taxes.
Since our founding, the city has not raised its millage rate for operations. However, during the past decade, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures the average prices of a broad cross-section of goods and services, increased by more than 37%.
Brookhaven has maintained one of the lowest overall municipal millage rates in DeKalb County, particularly among those cities with their own police departments. Thanks to growth in the tax digest and other sources of revenue, city government has been able to previously hold the line on proposing any tax rate increases.
However, as we look ahead to 2027, our ability to sustain the current level of services, as well as long-term infrastructure investment, will become increasingly difficult without additional revenue. Our police department alone consumes 36% of the city’s operating budget.
Following a voter referendum in 2022, Brookhaven residents chose to retain the Homestead Valuation Tax Freeze. While this has helped protect homestead property owners from increases in their taxable property values, it also reduced the amount of property tax revenue available to fund city services.
Our city is managed with a fiscally conservative approach, and we are one of only six municipalities in Georgia to have AAA bond ratings from both Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s.
No mayor or council takes a proposed tax increase lightly, particularly after many years of holding the line on the millage rate. As a result of these challenges and known cost increases such as motor fuel, the mayor and council are proposing a millage rate increase to provide the revenue necessary to continue to fund the services, infrastructure improvements, and quality of life investments that our residents and businesses have come to expect.
The city will be holding public hearings during June on the proposed millage rate increase. Your input is welcome.