News Roundup

The Atlanta City Council approved the budget for Fiscal Year 2020, which begins July 1. The proposed general fund is approximately $677 million. The budget was approved by a 14-0 vote. The budget includes no increase in the millage rate, a 3.1 percent pay increase for Atlanta Fire Rescue Department sworn personnel and 911 dispatches, increasing the minimum wage for city employees to $15 per hour, $800,000 in initial funding for the Office of Independent Compliance, and $150,000 for enhanced programming of senior services.

The Atlanta Board of Education approved the $854 million general fund budget for Atlanta Public Schools (APS) 2019-2020 school year.

Highlights of the budget include $12 million for salary increases for all employees, $281 million to increase equity throughout the system through developing school budgets using the Student Success Funding (SSF) formula, which bases school funding on student attributes such as poverty, English language learners and remedial education programs.

The new Atlanta Department of Transportation, approved by the city council last month, will manage a range of transportation improvements from roadway repair and maintenance to sidewalk and bike lane construction to installing and upgrading streetlights and traffic signals, making streets more accessible.