Proposed DeKalb budget for 2011
This is the proposed budget from CEO Ellis. I read through the entire thing, and a few items jumped out at me.
Police officers that used to cover Dunwoody will be reassigned to other parts of the county. That’s good news, it seems the CEO realizes that public safety is priority one. Now I wonder how many officers will actually be patrolling other parts of the county.
Georgia State University did a study and recommended positions be eliminated or combined to reduce redundancy. The county eliminated just half of the GSU recommendations. If you read through the recommended cuts, they seem reasonable. After all does there need to be 3 deputy directors in sanitation.
GSU recommended the BOC reduce their staff by 10, roughly 7 assistants and some other support people. They eliminated none
GSU recommended the CEO cut 9 from his office, he cut 3.
Why are crossing guards part of police services? Should they not be the responsibility of the BOE. BOE has its own police force, they should be in charge of crossing guards as well.
The library system has some 300 employees. Do people really use libraries that often. I know I have not stepped into one since the mid-90’s. I am not saying that we eliminate them, but maybe reduce hours, especially in the summertime.
I love gardening and growing plants and vegatables, but the extension office may need to be reconsidered. I think it is a luxury more than a necessity.
The county Information Systems department should look at using open software in places where it can. It is hard for me to imagine paying licensing fees for employees who create spreadsheets, text documents, or do research via the web. I am sure that the county has plenty of servers on Linux, but I would like to see the county at least look at transferring their desktops to a version of Linux. This could save millions of dollars in license fees as well as support costs.
I cannot say with any certainty or proof that the county staff is bloated, but if the GSU recommendations are anywhere near accurate, then the county could still provide basic services while cutting an additional 400 plus positions. I hate to see anyone lose their job, but the county should not be a jobs program. If cuts need to be made to help balance the budget, let’s do it. I like that the CEO and the commission wants to balance the budget. If the county has done all it can to reduce waste and improve efficiency, then a tax increase will be reasonable request. The CEO should not ask any resident to pay any more in taxes if he hasn’t done all he can to eliminate waste and redundancy.
DeKalb School Watch
- DeKalb School Watch Blog is Moving!
- Finis
- Show and Tell: A mess of shuttered vacant DCSS buildings litter the DeKalb landscape
- Superintendent Atkinson releases her Excellence in Education Plan
- A Smokey Bait and Switch Arising at Smoke Rise?
- Budget decisions can sometimes return to haunt
- Hello? Is anyone paying attention?
- Board holds a retreat at SACS headquarters
- Education-Related Legislative Updates
- Interesting news on the new audit report
Crossroads News
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AJC DeKalb
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South Dekalb 
“The library system has some 300 employees. Do people
really use libraries that often. I know I have not stepped into one
since the mid-90′s. I am not saying that we eliminate them, but
maybe reduce hours, especially in the summertime.” I implore you to
visit your libraries, especially in South DeKalb. Taxpayers do use
the services that libraries provide. As long as the patron has a
library card, they are offered free internet service, research
assistance, and perhaps you forget that people still read books.
They offer many programs for home schooled students and the summer
is busy with kids participating in the summer reading program.
Additionally, 300 employees for the entire DeKalb county seems low
to me. As a school librarian, I often refer my students to the
public library since I do not have the funds to purchase materials
that they actually like to read. You might think that this is
ridiculous but some kids still don’t have a computer and
surprisingly, an internet connection. I agree with you that the
DeKalb county taxpayers have placed themselves in an awful
predicament. Yes, I blame the taxpayers. But do you really think
that these “representatives” will do what’s right? Look at what the
DCSS school system is contemplating? Outsourcing custodians, yard
work, etc. However, the six figure a year “talking heads” at the
county office who cost the county tens of millions of dollars and
additional millions in benefits get to keep their jobs. The job
cuts need to start at the top and work it’s way down.
Unfortunately, I don’t think that the representatives will think
this way and the taxpayers will let them slide back into re
election.
I will not deny that libraries are a part of the quality of life in the county, but why not audit branches and make sure that the branches are getting the traffic to justify them being open. I am in favor of fewer and larger libraries that serve regions or areas instead of neighborhoods. The practical reason for libraries of research and information has been transfered to a digital format. Given that, we have to take an in depth look at how library systems will function in the future.
We can now access research and information digitally but that doesn’t mean that the information is accurate. There are a plethora of sites that are more subjective than objective. I often share with my students that Google is an index. Most of the sources listed are not reliable. Hence, the reason for databases and libraries. Your average person does not have access to these sites, therefore, libraries are vital. College students can get many of their college materials transferred in from another library (even the public library). The last time I checked professors still assign books.
I will not deny that patron visits can be used to determine if services provided may need to be adjusted, however, when people lose their jobs, phones, homes, etc they most often go to the library for free services.