Villa Rica Mayor J. Collins is calling for a 15 percent reduction in the city’s operating budget for next year with no cuts in capital projects or services.

Though it is the City Council that will approve the city’s fiscal year budget at its April meeting, the mayor has never been shy about using his veto power. The city’s fiscal year runs April 1-March 31 and as the budget process begins each January so too does the mayor’s recommendations to the city manager to try to avoid a veto.

“I want to see our budget be less than what we had this year because obviously we’re going to have less to operate on than we had this year,” Collins said.

The mayor said he is confident the city could continue to operate at a high level if the budget were to be reduced 15 percent. But, he said, that was a just a starting point and the final budget could end up being cut more or less than what he proposed.

“It may be more and it may be less, but the point is to get the conversation started,” he said. “I’ve had a few conversations with a couple of different council members and I think some of our new council members share my ideas about a conservative budget.”

City Manager Larry Wood is working with City Accountant Shari Smith to compile the proposed new budget that will be presented to the City Council for the first time in March. They are speaking to department heads and others who would have input.

One of the first changes that will be evident in the proposed budget is a 15 percent deduction in the city’s property tax revenues, the city’s biggest single revenue source. This change comes after Wood was told by both Carroll and Douglas counties that residential property values will drop significantly in the coming year.

“We’ve already been told by both Carroll and Douglas that residential properties will probably decline 15 percent. Douglas County said theirs may drop as much as 20 percent,” Wood said. “So, I’ve factored in a 15 percent reduction in the tax digest for residential property. That makes us lose about $200,000 in property tax revenues next year.”

Among the mayor’s other directives was a desire to put an additional $300,000 into the city’s reserves on top of the $200,000 that was put into reserves during the current budget cycle.

“One thing we need to keep in mind now more than ever is that the new sewer plant is going to be coming on line in the next year and a half, two years, and we need to make sure that we have an adequate amount of cash reserves on hand,” Collins said.

A reduction of 15 percent from the city’s current operating budget of $9.19 million budget would be cutting nearly $1.4 million. Though Wood pointed to the $500,000 in reductions that the lower property tax revenues and additions to the reserves would net, the city still must find ways to make up for those losses while at the same time finding an additional $900,000 in cuts to reach the mayor’s request.

Wood said the first place he would look for additional cuts would be in capital projects from the general fund, though such capital projects as the purchase of police cars will not be cut. Collins said he is adamantly opposed to a reduction in capital projects or services for residents from the general fund.

One way capital projects could continue is with SPLOST funds, which are down about 20 percent this year.

“We’re not going to stop capital projects entirely, but what we’ll do is use our SPLOST money wisely,” Wood said. “Hopefully, SPLOST revenues will pick back up this year and we’ll at least have $1 million in SPLOST. I’d love to have $1.2 million, but in this economy I don’t think it’s going to happen.”

Collins has said that among the capital projects that should be made a priority are new sidewalks and intersection improvements. There has been $1.7 million set aside for roads and sidewalks in the current Carroll County SPLOST and Wood plans to use at least $100,000 for sidewalks in the coming year, quadrupling the funds that were designated for sidewalks this year. Another $100,000 is proposed to be set aside for the parking around the downtown amphitheater.

Wood said other cuts that would be at the top of his list would be limiting training to only that which is mandated for certification, a measure the city has already been operating under for the past two years. Raises for city employees may also get lost in the budgeting process even though Wood said he’s doing what he can to make sure that doesn’t happen.

One bright spot in the coming budget year is that the city’s previous general obligation bonds were paid off in January, which was an annual payment of $300,000. But the city is expecting health insurance costs to increase 20 percent, which would eat into those savings.

Wood said he looks at the mayor’s request as a challenge, but added that it’s too early in the process to say whether it’s a realistic goal. However, the city has already been taking steps to reduce costs in some of its day-to-day operations.

“We’re making some changes in some of the big costs for the city already to save us some money, but add all those together and you’re not coming up with 15 percent,” Wood said. “Those or 8-10 percent reductions in those bills, which is significant because instead of going up they’re going down.”