Politics & Government

Acworth Millage Rates Stay Same

Acworth City Council holds firm on property taxes and says goodbye to a retiring officer.

residents can expect to see their city millage rates, or property taxes, stay constant during the next fiscal year, a decision enacted at Thursday evening's meeting of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen.

“Our projections were within a few thousand dollars,” said City Manager Brian Bulthuis. The city does not see a need to change the current millage rate, which stands at 7.6 mils. A 7.6 millage rate means that property owners will be paying $7.60 tax on every $1,000 of property that they own.

In other financial news, Bulthuis asked concerned citizens to write Mayor Mark Matthews of Kennesaw and Cobb County Commission Chairman Tim Lee regarding the need to keep the Highway 92 project on the .

Find out what's happening in Acworthwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The tax, which will be voted on in July of 2012, will raise approximately $10 billion, which will go towards transportation improvement. Due to the rigors of the economy, the wide swathe of projects originally envisioned to be funded by the tax is being reduced.

“The original regional list was a $23 billion list of projects,” said Bulthuis, “that has been whittled down to $12 billion. However, they still have to whittle down the $12 billion to $6 billion.” These cuts must be made by early August.

Find out what's happening in Acworthwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Bulthuis and his team have been working on the project for over seven years, and without the T-SPLOST funds the project will not be completed until 2021 or 2022. With the funds, the project could be completed five years sooner; although the Highway 92 work is a state project and is being engineered by the state, it currently has no funding.

The Mayor and Board then recognized a longtime Acworth who retired in April after a 26-year career.

Officer Leo A. Mesley joined the force on Apr. 3, 1985 and retired on Apr. 29 of this year. Mesley recalled that the April day in 1985 when he was hired was a wet one not unlike Thursday evening's downpour. When asked by Mayor Tommy Allegood if he had any specific memorable days, and though he won an officer of the year award early in his career, Mesley and his wife agreed that the best times were when he came home every day after a successful shift.

Mesley didn't miss many.

“The one thing I can say about Leo is that he always showed up to work,” said Chief Michael Wilkie. He recalled that Mesley even came into work shortly after a knee surgery when he should have been at home resting.

Allegood presented Mesley with a small plaque commemorating his service. Mesley said that given the choice, he would have done it all again.

“Working for the city every day was a pleasure for me,” Mesley said.

Wrapping up the meeting, Bulthuis reminded the Board and the audience that summer activities were beginning to wind down. Acworth summer camps will be closing in two weeks, followed shortly by the start of a new school year.

Bulthuis promised to keep the board informed on the upcoming Acworth Business Association's plans for teachers to welcome the new academic year, and he informed the assembly that 's 9th grade academy is having a ribbon cutting ceremony on Aug. 8 at 10 a.m.

The Mayor and Board passed the evening's consent agenda unanimously. Some highlights from the agenda are as follows:

  • Sharron Burtz and Beverly Burns will be added to the authorized contacts list on the city's Bank of America business account.
  • The Cobb County Radio Control Modeler's Club will use for their 2011 Float Fly Days.
  • The Georgia State Defense Force will use Roberts School for overnight training next year.
  • The city will replace its 17-year-old property maintenance code.
  • The city will be submitting for a $21,350.52 homeland security grant it was awarded by the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA).

The full agenda can be found here.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Acworth