InTucker Magazine

From the Mayor – January 2023

New year, new you? January is the traditional time of year to set resolutions for self-improvement, and the City of Tucker is no different. What is different is that our fiscal year runs from July 1 – June 30. That means everyone else’s New Year is the mid-point of our year as a city, but it’s nonetheless a good time to reflect and check in on progress.

Our budget this year is over $40 million. Around $17 million of that is what the accountants sometimes call “extraordinary items”. That means they are one-time, or limited in duration – in other words, they are for special purposes and can’t be counted on to repeat each year. These include ARPA funds from the federal government and SPLOST funds from the extra penny in sales tax. Both are intended for capital projects like roads, trails, sidewalks, stormwater facilities and similar large investments to improve the city’s infrastructure for the long-term. These funds come with lots of strings about what they can be spent on, reporting and auditing requirements, public bid processes for those who want to be awarded contracts for the work, and so on. You’d be surprised how hard it is and how long it takes to spend that money well! In anticipation of this unique situation, the City has brought on a Capital Projects Manager to focus solely on spending that money effectively and efficiently. Micah Seibel has joined Team Tucker to manage many of the big projects underway now, and several to come in calendar year 2023.

Another “self-improvement” step we’ve taken is hiring a full-time Human Resources Manager. Initially, all of our staff were employees of our primary contractor, Jacobs Engineering (formerly CH2M). Jacobs has been responsible for HR functions like hiring, risk assessment, employment policy, and other protocols. As we have insourced many positions over these first seven years, we have come to need our own HR department. We are very pleased that Lolita Brown has come on board, and we welcome her guidance and knowledge based on her direct experience managing these functions in city government elsewhere.

As a City we continually seek a higher level of service for our residents. The addition of these two positions on the staff are examples of that constant pursuit. Another is our ongoing program of plans and studies aimed at improving quality of life in Tucker. Highlights for the first half of 2023 include a housing study, a study on the Lawrenceville Highway corridor and an update to our Comprehensive Plan.

The Comprehensive Plan is a formal statement of the City’s vision for its future, and serves as the basis for all our other planning. It expresses the Tucker community’s aspirations and goals for its future while articulating a corresponding set of policies and recommendations regarding land use, development and capital improvements. Georgia state law requires all local governments to create such a plan and renew it every ten years. After five years (this year for Tucker, as we approved the current plan in 2018), we update the Work Plan section that lays out a detailed timetable for specific steps toward executing on the Comprehensive Plan. I have been gratified to see the tangible results of our work plan over the last five years, and look forward to identifying the specific steps we’ll take over the next five years to keep moving Tucker ahead. Please look for announcements about opportunities for you to give your input and feedback on all these plans in the coming months.

In this new year, I wish you all success, the strength to address your challenges and the courage to face the ones sure to come. I also wish you time and space to simply enjoy life in Tucker! I am looking forward to 2023 with you and welcome your input and support as we work together for the future of our young city. Please make sure you have signed up for our weekly email to stay aware of upcoming City meetings and follow us on your favorite social media platform. We are currently on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and Nextdoor. We are adding LinkedIn to our list this year, too, so there are many ways to be in touch, and I hope you will!