Cobb County could see nearly $30M budget shortfall in 2019

AUSTELL — When Cobb commissioners last month approved the county’s fiscal 2018 budget, they passed a plan that used one-time funds to fill a $20.8 million gap.

They learned Monday that a similar shortfall in the fiscal 2019 budget could grow to as much as $30 million if the county’s revenues and expenditures remain unchanged.

“That’s a realistic number. That’s not enhanced services — that’s what we’re doing today,” Bill Volckmann, the county’s finance director, told commissioners during the first day of their twoday retreat at the Threadmill Complex in Austell. He said his predecessor, the late Jim Pehrson, had predicted in 2014 an eventual overtaking of expenses to revenues, which the county has now reached.

Commissioners were presented with a number of potential cuts or reductions of services that they could implement in fiscal 2019.

Among the biggest cuts offered as possibilities by county staff include shuttering all county libraries, which would save about $9 million; and closing of animal control and the Cobb Safety Village, which would total nearly $4.4 million in savings.

John Gargis, Marietta Daily Journal

Dalton High reopens renovated theater

DALTON — If all the world is a stage, then Dalton High School’s world is now freshly re-carpeted, renovated and modernly lit, thanks to the combination of taxpayer funds and private donations.

The school’s Drama Club celebrated the completion of the renovations with a performance of “One Man, Two Guv’nors,” this year’s entry into the one-act-play competition, and a dedication honoring the family of one of the club’s biggest supporters.

The state-of-the-art theater lighting system was dedicated in memory of 1977 Dalton graduate and former Dalton Player William D. “Bill” Burr. The completed renovations for the theater were a combination of Education Local Option Sales Tax dollars as well as more than $100,000 in private donations, according to Principal Steve Bartoo.

The largest of the donations came from the William D. Burr Fund for the Arts of the Community Foundation of Northwest Georgia, which was established by William and Jeanne Burr — Bill Burr’s parents.

Jeanne Burr was overcome as friends and classmates shared memories of Bill, who passed away in 2012.

Wiping away the tears, she said helping with the renovations honored not just her son but all of his friends and the memories they created at Dalton High. Chris Whitfield, Dalton Daily Citizen

Here’s a look at what’s happening in other parts of North Georgia: