THOMASVILLE – Individuals filed into an overflow room on Wednesday night, listening closely as the second public hearing for the proposed property tax took place at City Hall. With eyes glued to the television screen, residents breathed a sigh of relief when Mayor Jay Flowers announced that the City Council had decided they were not going to vote for property taxes this year.

Prior to Flowers’ statement, City Manager Alan Carson spoke to the filled room in response to some of the questions the Council received during the previous hearing.

Carson explained that the City Council is trying to continue providing the services the City of Thomasville has come to know and love. However, an increase in the cost of nearly all projects has made this difficult.

Carson referenced the roadwork and resurfacing many streets are desperately in need of.

“Due to lack of funding, we can only pave 1-3 miles a year, when we are supposed to be doing 7 miles a year,” he shared.

Of course, paving wasn’t the only cost the City had to readjust the budget for.

Carson shared that when he began working for the City of Thomasville, the lowest paid employee made approximately $8.25 an hour. Now, that same employee makes nearly $15.

“We are seeing a 40% increase in nearly everything we do,” he said. “We have to adjust for that. We have spent $2.5 million on adjustments just in salary.”

Like many though, the City looked for ways to cut back on expenses in 2020, resulting in a hiring freeze.

“We stopped promotions and merit increases,” Carson explained to the public. “We gave every department a base budget and approved adjustments to the budget on an individual basis.”

In addition to these changes, Carson created a Fleet Committee to help study ways the city’s fleet could reduce gas costs and hired a grant administrator to find ways the city could improve the value of life in Thomasville, without spending money they didn’t have. However, the grant administrator was restricted to only grants that were 80, 90 or 100 percent guarantees, because the City could not afford to match most of the grants offered.

Carson assured the residents that the City has worked tirelessly on finding new and inventive ways to cut back and adjust the budget, but it will require the help of the residents.

“We are in defense mode right now, but we will get the ball back and make this town what we want it to be,” Carson reassured.

Flowers thanked Carson for his presentation to the public and pointed out that he nor Carson wants to add taxes, but the City Council’s primary responsibility is financial stability.

Flowers echoed Carson’s earlier sentiment that the City Council is proud of the services they are able to offer to the public, but they have to move forward in revamping them.

“It’s costly,” Flowers said. “The infrastructure is old; we are seeing 50-60 leaks a day. It’s becoming more and more rapid, but in order to fix these things we have to have capital.”

Flowers explained that while the electric fund has been a great source for many years, sales are flat.

“We have more electrical customers than ever before, but sales are flat,” he shared. “People have upgraded to LED lights and smart thermostats. We can’t raise the electric rates, because it burdens those already hurting among us.”

Upon stating why the City would not raise its electric rates, Flowers made the announcement they would also not be voting on the property tax for this year. However, Flowers said this tax is something the City Council will have to decide on at some point, but realized the city residents needed more time to mull it over.

While most in the crowd seemed relieved at Flowers’ statement, others pointed out that years down the road, residents may still be in the same financial situation. Suggestions were given to raise the property tax slightly every year, instead of raising it 100% all at one time.

Councilman Scott Chastain thanked everyone for their attendance and comments and phone calls over the weeks.

“We see how much the community cares about this place, and we realize the community needs more time to wrestle with this,” he concluded.

Chastain asked for patience in the year to come as they continue to wrestle with the best outcome for all involved.