OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

DeKalb County FAB Committee Approves FY 2026 Budget Amendment - May 26, 2026

Board of Commissioners & CommitteesTuesday, May 26, 2026
BodyDekalb County, Georgia
SessionBoard of Commissioners & Committees
DateTuesday, May 26, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 32:44

Transcript — Verbatim
0:26

There's no edits.

0:28

I'll take a motion.

0:29

Motion to approve item 2026-0890.

0:33

Second.

0:34

All right, motion is second.

0:36

All in favor of Jan CI.

0:38

Aye.

0:38

Chair both sides.

0:39

Motion carries.

0:41

All right.

0:43

So we have two presentation or discussion items on the agenda today.

0:47

The auditing of the tree bank, we're gonna wait two weeks for that while planning department pulls together all of the details.

0:53

Um commissioners, what we'll be looking for there is just sort of how many um tree bank uh like donations through the recompense fund, where the money's gone so far, some of it's IOU, some of it's actually cash, and so just kind of a quick overview of what we have, what we've spent, and how much is left.

1:12

Um the open gov demo.

1:14

Um TJ, did you say that you wanted to wait on that one?

1:17

OpenGov demo?

1:18

Okay, all right.

1:19

So we'll so next committee yeah, we'll come back and we'll do both of those at the next fab.

1:26

Um let's also let's jump into the uh probably the main agenda item here, which is actually um 0860.

1:40

This is to amend the fiscal year 2026 annual budget and appropriate capital funding for various items.

1:46

So TJ, is this are you gonna present on this with Zach?

1:51

And I is this the CIP list that we were planning to review?

1:56

Yes, it is.

1:58

And this is uh as you're aware, we're working towards a multi-year um CIP program uh that we'll be presenting hopefully in the next couple of months.

2:07

But what we wanted to do is move forward with a 2026 allocation with a couple of key initiatives that uh are time sensitive.

2:16

One of them is of course the jail.

2:18

Um we want to keep funding going there.

2:20

Um we have actually identified um uh thanks to the the Board of Commissioner and CEO's um uh authorization to move forward on the assessment, uh the facility condition assessment of the jail.

2:33

Uh we've come up with some um some specific new items that uh we want to be able to address with uh some of these funds.

2:41

So um I guess we're at a position now where we can give an overview of what we're talking about, some of the major initiatives that we're proposing be funded uh in 2026, and our intent with everything we're bringing forward um and the reason for bringing it forward now is we feel that it is time sensitive and we want to move forward with the spend.

3:00

Okay, understood.

3:01

All right, um and T I know we have a couple spreadsheets here in the packet.

3:05

Um anything you're presenting on on the screen or just um through the spreadsheet here.

3:11

Yeah, I think we can just go through the agenda item really.

3:15

Okay.

3:17

Okay, so um there are a list of several projects and they're coming from various funding sources.

3:24

So uh two of them are really uh re reallocating some of some previously approved uh capital funding.

3:32

Uh the first is three million dollars for the Maloof annexed construction, and that's actually coming from the cops restricted fund, which was the um proceeds from the sale of Clark Harrison building.

3:45

Okay.

3:46

Okay.

3:47

What is the uh status of that?

3:50

Is it is it Clark is C O P S stand for Clark Harrison?

3:54

No, what does that stand for?

3:55

No, that's that's the uh certificates of participation believe.

4:02

So that's just the y'all you all just come up with that terminology or I'm not sure what that means.

4:06

Uh uh Diane could probably speak to it better than I could.

4:10

It's essentially a loan uh from the state.

4:13

And what happened when we first purchased uh the Clark Harrison building that was purchased with topps funds.

4:20

Once they were um once we sold the building, um we were reimbursed from back back to my clothes.

4:27

Uh topps or a lease is a s is uh like a bond except it's for a lease purchase, it's a lease purchase financing instead of uh regular bond purchases.

4:37

Okay, so we can just be sold.

4:39

We sort of paid back that, but it's still the fund still has the uh proceeds of the sale that were remaining.

4:46

Okay, and is it is the three is three million left in that fund or what's three million?

4:50

There's three million left in that fund.

4:52

Yes, and um the balance of the sale actually you're looking at um we spent on rehabbing Sam Street.

4:59

Gotcha.

5:00

Uh as you recall, this was an old DCF um facility.

5:03

Okay.

5:04

And so is the three million that's just for what's already been planned for Maloof, everything we've seen so far in terms of the furniture, the disco light.

5:14

Right.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Capital Improvement Planning████████████████████████████28%
Technology and Innovation██████████████████████22%
Procurement Policy████████████████████20%
Public Safety█████████9%
Budget Equity Analysis███████7%
Fiscal Sustainability█████5%
Public Engagement████4%
Procedural███3%
Public Works Maintenance██2%
Summary of Proceedings

DeKalb County FAB Committee Meeting Summary - May 26, 2026

The DeKalb County Finance, Audit, and Budget (FAB) Committee met on May 26, 2026 to discuss and vote on a Fiscal Year 2026 budget amendment, a financial advisory contract change order, and other items.

Consent Calendar

  • Item 2026-0890 was approved unanimously with no discussion.

Discussion Items

  • Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Amendment (Item 0860): The committee approved an amendment to the FY2026 annual budget, appropriating capital funding from multiple sources for time-sensitive projects.

    • Reallocation from COPs Fund: $3 million from the Certificates of Participation fund (proceeds from the Clark Harrison building sale) was reallocated for Phase 2 of the Maloof Annexed Construction.
    • Reallocation from Memorial Drive Acquisition Fund: $2.6 million was reallocated for facility upgrades including a $1.5 million HVAC retrofit, $200,000 for LED parking lot light upgrades, $250,000 for UPS power systems at 911 antenna sites, $200,000 for Finance office renovations, and various other repairs and replacements.
    • General Fund Appropriations: $7.32 million from reserves, including $5 million for county jail repairs, $2 million for a new Oracle permitting and licensing system (Opal) for the Planning Department, and $320,000 for the CityWorks work order system expansion.
    • 911 Fund Projects: $5.1 million for a backup primary radio site ($1.6 million) and an AT&T phone system upgrade ($3.5 million), transferred from fire and police funds.
  • County Jail Repairs: Chief Atkins from the Sheriff's Office stated the proposed $5 million is a "drop in the bucket" compared to the $11.7 million in immediate needs identified by a facility condition assessment. He noted the allocation would prioritize preventing escapes, while a $4 million sprinkler system repair remains a critical vulnerability. The committee agreed to review the full assessment findings during future budget discussions.

  • Permitting Software (Opal): Commissioner Johnson strongly supported the $2 million Opal investment and urged transparent, quarterly public updates and vendor training to change public perception of the permitting process. IT representative Mr. Williams expressed high confidence, calling the software a "game changer" informed by lessons from the 2014-15 implementation. The project has an 18-month implementation timeline.

  • Financial Advisory Services Contract (Item 0693): The committee approved a change order extending PFM Financial Advisors' contract through December 31, 2026, to complete ongoing work including a banking RFP while a new comprehensive FA contract is finalized by procurement for the Board of Commissioners' approval. Commissioners discussed aligning the future FA's scope with proactive board needs.

Key Outcomes

  • Item 0860 (Budget Amendment): Approved unanimously.
  • Item 0693 (PFM Change Order): Approved unanimously.
  • Tree Bank Audit and OpenGov Demo: Deferred to the next FAB meeting in two weeks.
  • Customer Bill of Rights (Item 1525): Held in committee for alignment with administration and finance.
  • Next Steps: A comprehensive financial advisory RFP award is scheduled for the next Board of Commissioners meeting.

Meeting Transcript

There's no edits. I'll take a motion. Motion to approve item 2026-0890. Second. All right, motion is second. All in favor of Jan CI. Aye. Chair both sides. Motion carries. All right. So we have two presentation or discussion items on the agenda today. The auditing of the tree bank, we're gonna wait two weeks for that while planning department pulls together all of the details. Um commissioners, what we'll be looking for there is just sort of how many um tree bank uh like donations through the recompense fund, where the money's gone so far, some of it's IOU, some of it's actually cash, and so just kind of a quick overview of what we have, what we've spent, and how much is left. Um the open gov demo. Um TJ, did you say that you wanted to wait on that one? OpenGov demo? Okay, all right. So we'll so next committee yeah, we'll come back and we'll do both of those at the next fab. Um let's also let's jump into the uh probably the main agenda item here, which is actually um 0860. This is to amend the fiscal year 2026 annual budget and appropriate capital funding for various items. So TJ, is this are you gonna present on this with Zach? And I is this the CIP list that we were planning to review? Yes, it is. And this is uh as you're aware, we're working towards a multi-year um CIP program uh that we'll be presenting hopefully in the next couple of months. But what we wanted to do is move forward with a 2026 allocation with a couple of key initiatives that uh are time sensitive. One of them is of course the jail. Um we want to keep funding going there. Um we have actually identified um uh thanks to the the Board of Commissioner and CEO's um uh authorization to move forward on the assessment, uh the facility condition assessment of the jail. Uh we've come up with some um some specific new items that uh we want to be able to address with uh some of these funds. So um I guess we're at a position now where we can give an overview of what we're talking about, some of the major initiatives that we're proposing be funded uh in 2026, and our intent with everything we're bringing forward um and the reason for bringing it forward now is we feel that it is time sensitive and we want to move forward with the spend. Okay, understood. All right, um and T I know we have a couple spreadsheets here in the packet. Um anything you're presenting on on the screen or just um through the spreadsheet here. Yeah, I think we can just go through the agenda item really. Okay. Okay, so um there are a list of several projects and they're coming from various funding sources. So uh two of them are really uh re reallocating some of some previously approved uh capital funding. Uh the first is three million dollars for the Maloof annexed construction, and that's actually coming from the cops restricted fund, which was the um proceeds from the sale of Clark Harrison building. Okay. Okay. What is the uh status of that? Is it is it Clark is C O P S stand for Clark Harrison? No, what does that stand for? No, that's that's the uh certificates of participation believe. So that's just the y'all you all just come up with that terminology or I'm not sure what that means. Uh uh Diane could probably speak to it better than I could. It's essentially a loan uh from the state. And what happened when we first purchased uh the Clark Harrison building that was purchased with topps funds. Once they were um once we sold the building, um we were reimbursed from back back to my clothes. Uh topps or a lease is a s is uh like a bond except it's for a lease purchase, it's a lease purchase financing instead of uh regular bond purchases.

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