A public hearing took place on Thursday night, May 8, to give residents of Lookout
Mountain, Georgia an opportunity to weigh in on a draft of the city’s 2025-2026 budget, but no citizens came or commented. City Attorney Bill Pickering said the meeting was advertised.
After the meeting was called to order, Mayor David Bennett and City Attorney Pickering discussed the first draft of the new budget. The budget includes estimated total revenue in the general fund of $1,969,210.
Last year, $868,000 of the city’s revenue came from real and personal property taxes. This year, the proposed budget projects $32,000 more in revenue.
Some of the expenses in the budget draft include a salary increase for city employees and the nearly 10 percent increase in health insurance premiums for them. Lookout Mountain, Ga., pays 90 percent of an employee’s insurance and half of a family’s premiums.
Other revenue will come from the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, commonly referred to as SPLOST. It is a one percent sales tax that residents of Walker County and the cities within in the county have approved to impose upon themselves.
This year, Mayor Bennett said SPLOST revenue could be used to invest in more fire and police equipment. SPLOST may also be used for such things as stormwater infrastructure and for recreation. Previously, there was a question if money from the city of Lookout Mountain, Ga. could be given to Lookout Mountain, Tn. due to Georgia laws. Sharing in the recreational costs will be permissible, said Attorney Pickering since the two towns have an established, joint recreation program and there is a need for new sports fields and maintaining turf.
Citizens of Lookout Mountain can still have a say in the new budget when it is considered on the first and second readings which will take place in June, officials said. The date of that meeting will be scheduled before the first reading of the budget in its final form.
The city is in very good financial standing, said the mayor.