Mayor Lester Miller Presents Budget for Fiscal Year 2022
Thursday, May 20th, 2021
On Tuesday, May 18, Mayor Lester Miller presented his Proposed Fiscal Year 2022 (July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022) Budget to the Commission and the public. In his proposed budget, he is recommending no increase in property taxes and aligns funding with the stated needs of the community, which was determined through thousands of responses and suggestions during his Transition Team process.
During that process, the community identified the areas they saw needed the most work by the consolidated government: Public Safety; Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion; Economic Development; Education & Workforce Development; and Recreation & Tourism. Mayor Miller highlighted the work Macon-Bibb County accomplished to address those areas by having departments, agencies, and the community work closely together.
“This budget was built talking with our departments, partners, elected officials, and, most importantly, the public,” says Mayor Miller. “We will spend our money in a way that most directly addresses the needs and concerns of our community, and I am confident people will be proud of what we can truly being to accomplish with this budget.”
The budget he is proposing, however, specifically identifies funding to do even more work in that area, including: fully funding the new payscale for the year and beginning to develop Phase II; $1 million for neighborhood and community beautification efforts; $1 million for economic and workforce development through the Industrial Authority and Urban Development Authority; an additional $500,000 for the Code Enforcement Department to attack blight more aggressively; $100,000 for pedestrian and traffic safety; fully funding budget requests for mental health services; increasing funding for Planning & Zoning if they reduce their fees; and more.
