WHEREAS, between the years of 2007 and 2009, along the rest of the country, the City of Atlanta faced an economic recession, which led to unprecedented short and long-term budget challenges due to the downturn in the economy; and
WHEREAS, due to the economic recession, the City faced a gap in spending of 60M, forcing the City to turn to drastic measures to curtail spending and managing the City's expenses; such measures included raising property taxes, mandate furloughs days for City employees and require hiring freezes on vacant City positions;
WHEREAS, in 2008, the City's Internal Auditor conducted a Performance Audit Report on the City's General Fund Budget, calling for the City to establish polices to guide long and short-term financial planning and monitoring, which included the maintenance of fund balance, the use of non-recurring and surplus revenues and the development of five-year financial forecasts and interim financial reporting and
WHEREAS, as a result of the audit, the City Council developed a strategy to avoid the financial condition the City faced in 2008, by creating a comprehensive strategic short and long-range planning and economic forecasting tool called the Financial Stabilization Plan to address the City's spending trends and establish spending guidelines and priorities for the City and to assist in the allocation of the City's financial resources; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to 09-R-1213 and codified pursuant to Article VI, Chapter 3, Section 6-
312 of the City of Atlanta Charter, the City's Financial Stabilization Plan (the "Plan") was adopted requiring the Chief Financial Officer to report the City's financial priorities annually for five-year term, to ensure the financial stability of the City; and
WHEREAS, since the adoption and implementation of the Financial Stabilization Plan, the City has become more fiscally responsible with its spending, resulting in the City's General Fund revenues exceeding its general expenditures for the past six fiscal years (FY 2010 through FY
2016), an increase in the City's General Fund Balance from $60M in FY 2009 to $150M in
FY16 and a more stable, secure and healthier financial position for the City; and
WHEREAS, as a result of the City's secure financial positioning, the stabilization portion of the Plan is no longer necessary; therefore the Plan should focus more on identifying future revenues and expense trends and proactively identifying ways to improve financial viability since the City's financial position is secure; and
WHEREAS, therefore, the name of the Plan should be changed from the Financial Stabilization Plan to the Five Year Financial Plan to reflect the Plan's mission and goals going forward.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ATLANTA GEORGIA, as follows:
SECTION 1: That Article VI, Chapter 3, Section 2-316 of the City of Atlanta Charter is hereby amended to change all references to the "Financial Stabilization Plan" throughout the Charter and replace the language with the "Five Year Financial Plan" to read as follows:
Section 2-613 Five Year Financial Plan
(a) The Mayor shall present to the governing body by February 15 of each year a Five Year
Financial Plan consisting of the following elements:
(4) A cost estimate of long-term initiatives of the city. Such initiatives shall include, but
are not limited to, long-term operating infrastructure and capital infrastructure needs and the elimination of deficit positions in funds that are subsidized or have historically been subsidized by the general fund. At any time the governing body of the city, may by resolution, request specific long-term initiatives to be included in the Five Year Financial Plan.
(5) A comprehensive list of revenue initiatives the city may pursue during the five years
covered by the Five Year Financial Plan, including an estimate of the revenues to be produced by such initiatives.
(6) A comprehensive list of cost saving initiatives the city may pursue during the five years covered by the Five Year Financial Plan, including an estimate of costs saved by such initiatives.
SECTION 2: That all ordinances and parts of ordinances in conflict herewith are hereby repealed for purposes of this ordinance only, and only to the extent of the conflict.