Guyton is a great place to live.

As a matter of fact, it has been described as the garden spot of

the South, halfway between Eden and Egypt. Guyton is rich in history and caring citizens.
However, to keep Guyton great, we have to provide the funds for the infrastructure and services
that need to be maintained. These include road resurfacing, maintaining buildings and parks,
maintaining right-of-way, etc. Also, during our budget workshops, citizens expressed their
overwhelming desire to maintain our police department and the services this department
provides.

Municipalities receive operating revenue from various sources including Local Option Sales Tax
(LOST), franchise fees, property taxes, insurance premium fees, alcohol beverage taxes and
other sources. Property taxes are perhaps the only revenue source in which the governing
authority has any control over. Other sources of revenue are controlled by contractual
agreements (franchise fees) or by the nature of the economy (insurance premium fees, alcohol
beverage taxes, etc).

To add some historical perspective, Guyton was receiving well over $100,000 annually in
property tax revenue from 2008-2011. In 2012, that revenue dropped to approximately $83,000
(approximately a 25% drop in one year). In 2013, this continued to fall to approximately $80,000
as the millage rate was kept at the low 2.22 mills. Last year (2016) the city received
approximately $86,000 from property tax revenue, still much lower than the amounts received in
2011 (this can be seen in figure 1). Unfortunately, other revenue sources mentioned previously
did not increase during these same periods to compensate for the loss. While revenues fell, the
cost of running the city did not go down. The cost of goods and services continued to increase
and the city struggled to meet the needs of its citizens.

Further, Guyton has the lowest and would remain the lowest millage rate of any municipality with
a population between 1,000 and 2,500 in Georgia reporting this information to the Department of
Community Affairs (DCA) as seen in figure 2. The next lowest is millage rate is 3.381 mills
(Ellaville). Of this same group of municipalities, Guyton has the third lowest revenue from
property tax (see figure 3).

Additionally, the City of Guyton in in need of a fund accounting package. The software currently
being used (Sage, or Peachtree Accounting as it is formally known) is not designed for
governmental accounting and has provided many challenges in maintaining accurate records as
well as increased personnel time in multiple postings and professional fees related to auditing a
system that is not designed for this use. An RFP has been released and proposals have been
reviewed. The selected software package is approximately $80,000 to purchase and will cost the
city an additional $16,600 annually in support and contracts. While the initial $80,000 is to come
from cash reserves, these reserves will need to be replenished moving forward in addition to the
increased support fees for this much needed software.

Finally, many may wonder if the new wastewater treatment plant is the cause for the increase in
taxes. The simple answer is no. The increase is simply needed to address the many services
provided by the city and the cost associated with these services (police, streets and lanes,
parks, buildings, etc.).
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