The Athens City Council will hold its public hearing for the Fiscal Year 2024 budget at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 28. The public hearing for the proposed tax rate for the 2023 Tax Year will be held at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 11.

The proposed tax rate for the upcoming fiscal year is $0.532751 per $100 valuation, which is a reduction of $0.033249 from the current year. This marks the fifth straight year the tax rate has gone down.

The total revenue projected for the General Fund is $15,381,269. About half of that figure is collected from sales taxes, with a proposed amount retained by the City of $7,787,500. The proposed tax rate would yield a total of $5,681,756 in property taxes based on the proposed tax rate.

Some Capital Improvement highlights in the proposed budget include:

• $650,000 in Street Department capital improvements.
• $100,000 in improvements to City Hall and the Development Services Center.
• $65,000 for a Criminal Investigation Division vehicle and equipment.
• $135,000 for two new APD patrol cars and equipment.
• $14,000 for rifles for patrol officers.
• $67,500 for a new truck for the Parks Department.
• $105,500 for City-wide technology upgrades.