QUITMAN, Ga. (WCTV) – Battling a $2.4 million deficit, Quitman City Council members voted to adopt a budget that includes potential cuts to the police department, while increasing some fees for residents.

Quitman City Manager James Lawrence said it is state law to have a balanced budget, and if more money isn’t generated, cuts will have to happen.

The most noticeable cut could come to the police department. Aside from the chief, Lawrence says there are 11 officers on staff with several vacant positions. He said in order to balance the budget, the number of officers would need to drop down to eight.

The city manager also pointed out the reduction in staff is dependent on the amount of money generated after the next fiscal year begins on July 1.

“The plan is to maintain the current staffing that we have and to manage that process through the budget year,” Lawrence said. “Based off of what currently comes in from the general fund side versus what the fire department and the police department currently expend, there’s no way you can get through the entire budget year without going over.”

Included in the new budget are increases to resident sanitation fees and an increase to the base rate for water and sewer. This will take effect on August 1.

Lawrence said the current base rate for water is $6.37, and that will increase to $13.37. He mentioned the consumption rate for city residents will not increase - only the base rate goes up. For sewer, that fee will jump from $5.86 to $12.86.

Additionally, sanitation fees will go from $14 per unit to $28 per unit for the first can. The second can will be $14 for residents, according to the city manager.

Residents outside the city limits can expect to see increases in both the base rate and consumption rates, according to Lawrence. He said that puts the city back in alignment with its current charter, which requires county residents to be charged 125% of the city’s rates.

Altogether, he anticipates the increases will generate roughly $600,000 in additional revenue.

Lawrence said he also cut $20,000 from his own salary to help with the budget deficit.

Separately, the city manager says they are on track to regaining financial compliance with the state. Earlier this year, the city was at risk of being dissolved after House Bill 1567 was introduced.

The city is now working to produce financial audits dating back nearly a decade in order to achieve compliance. “I feel comfortable with where we are right now,” Lawrence said.

He said the city already submitted reports for fiscal year 2017 to the state, and they plan to have 2018 complete next month. Several more audits should be finished by the end of this year, according to Lawrence. Ultimately, they must have all outstanding reports complete by May of 2027.

“An audit is not an investigation,” Lawrence said. “If we approach these internal audits as basically a report card of how your internal controls are, that is what will be able to help a city be able to operate more efficiently and more effectively to help the people that live here.”

Being out of compliance can heavily impact the city’s ability to receive grant funding, the city manager said. He pointed out the city had to spend an additional $100,000 to pay for the audits, but he says being in compliance is critical.

“That is Georgia Law, and so it’s very important as an administrator at least from my perspective that I follow the law first,” Lawrence said. “From a transparency standpoint, those financial reports or those financial audits show you in very great detail how money has been moved throughout the city - what’s been done well and what hasn’t been done so well.”

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