State court revenue highlight of Catoosa budget

RINGGOLD, Ga. — Catoosa County’s lowerlevel court is finally bringing in the money commissioners originally hoped for.

With Chief Financial Officer Carl Henson introducing the first draft of the upcoming budget during a county commission meeting Tuesday night, the county’s largest expected increase in revenue comes from fines and forfeitures in state court. They are budgeting for about $909,000 for the upcoming fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1. That is a $309,000 boost over last year’s budget.

The increase in the budget is not because the commissioners expect a boost in state court next year. They simply realized they didn’t expect enough this year.

Through nine months, the state court has generated about $718,000 in revenue. This put the court on track to bring in about $960,000 for the full year.

“That was the plan,” Henson said after Tuesday’s meeting. “We were anticipating for that to occur [beginning in 2016]. But it was a little slower coming. And now we’re reaping the benefits.”

After the state legislature passed a local act in 2016, the county launched the state court that fall. It handles misdemeanors and some lawsuits with the goal of speeding up the court system and cutting down the jail population, freeing superior court judges to focus more on felony cases.

And with a more efficient court system, the commissioners hoped it would bring in more money. State Court Solicitor Doug Woodruff said once a defendant is found guilty, they will begin paying some money to the county every month. But first, they have to actually go through the system. While expecting $909,000 in revenue this year, the county had budgeted about $470,000 for the judge and solicitor’s salaries.

In the 2017 fiscal year, the state court saw about 1,000 cases. This year, they are on track for about 1,200. Woodruff expects that figure to stay flat next year.

The commissioners will hold a work session to review the budget at 1 p.m. today at 800 LaFayette St. and expect to vote on a final budget during their Aug. 21 meeting.

Today, Woodruff expects to ask for an extra $20,000 in the budget to spend on an assistant. He would pay another local lawyer an hourly rate to help on court days. Overall, the commissioners are expecting a general fund budget with about $1.2 million more in spending and revenue this upcoming year. In both categories, the change would be about a 4.6 percent increase.

In many people’s homes, the property tax bills should remain about the same. With property values increasing overall in the county, the commissioners plan to “roll back” the tax rate, from about 6.95 mills to 6.734 mills, a 3 percent drop.