InTucker Magazine

New Department Hits the Ground Running

It’s a busy season for the City. In addition to the TKR Summer of Fun, Parks and Recreation staff are busy operating multiple summer camps and regular programming. We’ve rolled into a new budget year. Our long-awaited Public Works department takes over roads and maintenance as well as stormwater from DeKalb County.

Following the referendum and vote to assume responsibility for roads and maintenance as well as stormwater management, we had to look at our 2023 millage rate. Prior to the takeover, our millage rate funded our parks. To accommodate paying for both our Public Works department and our parks, we needed to raise our millage rate. This process contained two parts. The first was a rollback of the portion of our millage rate that covered our parks from .848 to .784 mills. The second was an addition of 1.5 mills to pay for public works for a total millage rate of 2.284 mills. This resulted in an overall 191.33% increase in property taxes. It is a significant jump, but far below the maximum of three mills that voters authorized during the referendum. It is accompanied by a reduction in taxes paid to DeKalb County, as residents will not be “double dipping” and paying both the City and the County for these services.

Now that it is July, our new services begin in earnest.

See an issue on our roads or with our stormwater infrastructure? There are a few ways you can reach out to us. You can call the City on the phone, email our Public Works department, or contact us via fillable form on our website to create a service request. Our lines of communication are open all day every day to hear your needs.

We will not be waiting for service requests from residents to start work; in fact, there are some known deficiencies we’ve already recorded and are beginning to fix. These range from potholes on our major roads to broken or faded signs to sidewalk and curb issues. We have a sizable list of existing needs to tide us over while we wait for the first service requests to come in, and we will prioritize reducing this backlog.

If you have kept up with our recent City Council meetings, you know we recently signed contracts for services related to our Public Works department. A few specialized contractors will provide assistance. You may see Sunbelt Traffic and subcontractor Big Apple Services in the field fixing traffic signals or restriping pavement. TriScapes, Inc. will be onsite completing right of way maintenance, road and stormwater repair and maintenance. CaJenn Construction & Rehab Services, Metals & Materials Engineers and Utility Asset Management, Inc. may also complete various stormwater repairs and maintenance. We are confident that these skilled contractors will help us provide our residents with the level of service you deserve.

One major step in providing exceptional service was finding a location to serve as a local storage facility. This allows us to keep equipment in a centralized location and assists with our goal of ultimately reducing service delivery times by 50 percent or more. Management of public works remains at City Hall with dedicated staff from Lowe Engineering leading the service process.

Report issues at (678) 597-9040.