Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.
The Sandy Springs City Council held a special called budget workshop on May 5, 2026, at 2:00 PM in the Barfield Conference Room. City Manager Eden Freeman presented the initial FY 2027 budget framework, focusing on priority-based budgeting and capital improvement planning. Department heads reviewed performance metrics and requested enhancements for the coming fiscal year. Council members asked questions and provided direction but made no final budget decisions.
City Manager Freeman outlined the budget calendar: a second workshop on May 19, proposed budget on May 26, public hearings on June 2 and June 16, with adoption required by June 30. The budget is built around council-adopted priorities. Key assumptions include a 3% COLA for all employees, a projected 20% increase in general liability insurance, and transition to a self-funded health insurance model with potential cost-sharing. Debt service rises to $15.5M, and jail services are budgeted at $850,000.
Chief Kenneth DeSimone reported a decrease in property and violent crime in 2025. Total calls for service dropped to 98,048 from 106,280 in 2024. Traffic citations and warning also declined. There were 2,794 arrests in 2025, down 1,000 from the prior year. Council discussed:
Chief Keith Sanders reported fire/EMS responded to 22,565 incidents in 2025 (down from 26,987 in 2021). Average response time was 7:09 minutes. Cardiac arrests: 91 total, 6 survivors. Community Paramedicine program saved $46,250. Requested enhancements include new aerial and engine ($534,000), bonus structure alignment with police ($52,500), active shooter PPE, and turnout gear replacement due to PFAS chemicals (costs rising). Council questioned station relocation impact on response times and hot spot maps.
Director William Martin highlighted requests for:
Director Brent Walker reviewed department performance. Top programs: Back to School Bash (1,500 registrants), National Kids to Parks Day (600). Contractor programs: Sandy Springs Racquet Center (69,542 participants). Requested enhancements: software replacement ($22,000), program supplies ($34,000), site improvements ($20,000), and additional park supervisor. Capital requests: Morgan Falls Athletic Complex ($2M for stormwater/turf replacement), Abernathy Arts Center playground replacement, Heritage Playground ($1M for design/renovation including stream buffer remediation). Tree Fund requests total $605,000 – $300,000 for capital projects, $50,000 for invasive removal, $40,000 for Trees ATL front yard program (77 trees planted last year). Council expressed concern about senior programming; City Manager noted it is a county function under Service Delivery Strategy, but staff will explore multi-generational programs.
Executive Director William Haggett presented signature events budget increased from $200,000 to $500,000 (offset by $250,000 parking revenue). Foundation committed $25,000 to Skate Sandy Springs, $20,000 to Stars and Stripes. New events: FIFA World Cup watch parties ($50,000), Night Market pilot at Loman’s Plaza. Council noted:
City Manager proposed a new Chief Innovation Officer, realigning two positions from her office. Capital request: $1M to replace Lucity with a system enabling public self-service.
Enhancements: EV chargers ($22,000), HVAC contract/filter maintenance, unscheduled plant replacement ($185,000 for landscaping), security supervisor. Capital requests: Back-up 911 Center (federal earmark), City Springs District Improvements ($5M for future phase 2), EOC video wall replacement ($210,000), Heritage Lawn stream buffer remediation ($1M including playground, boardwalk, parking lot upgrades). Council questioned five-year cost trends.
Total positions increase by net 6 full-time (plus 3 grant-funded police positions), from 648 to 664. Mayor Paul urged slowing headcount growth. City Manager stated all requests are essential. Summary of primary contractors and nonprofit allocations was presented.
Fleet Fund: $1,691,500 total (police $1.25M, fire admin $150,000, public works $40,000, recreation $251,500). Tree Fund: $605,000 total. Overall capital list included $500,000 for Façade Improvement Program contingent on design guidelines; council discussion about funding source (General Fund vs. Development Authority).
No public comments were presented at this workshop.
No consent calendar items were considered.
I'd like to call this uh special meeting of City Spring City Council to order for Tuesday. That's good. You have to start over. Uh no, not really. Uh, I don't guess we need a roll call or anything, right? So I'll just uh turn this over to uh city manager to carry through this is uh budget workshop number one. This is where the city manager lays out the path forward with the budget, kind of the major issues, the highlights. Uh this is largely the opportunity for council to get engaged and understand kind of uh how she has taken the priorities that we set and the rest of staff said that we set in January and the path forward. Uh this is kind of uh clearly you'll have an opportunity for questions, but uh this will be uh more for the city manager to present us the path forward, and then we'll have opportunities to provide input down the road. City manager. Good evening, good afternoon, excuse me, mayor and council members. Thank you for being here today. I am excited and pleased to welcome you to our first budget workshop for fiscal year 2027. I have to start out today by thanking our excellent senior leadership team and our esteemed budget team with Michael, Tanya, Tony, Kristen, and Caroline. Everyone has put in hundreds of hours into the budget documents that you see in front of you today that really are going to serve as the foundation for thoughtful discussion and deliberation as we work through the process of establishing our FY 2027 budget. So to start with, and in your notebook, you have today a copy of the slides. This notebook will be built upon in each of the subsequent sessions. So our budget process actually began in January with a memo sent out by our chief financial officer to all of our department heads, asking them to start preparing their budgets and their financial plans that supported council's adoptive priorities. Given the uncertainty of the changes that to our revenue streams that were being discussed during the General Assembly this year, our teams were directed to carefully evaluate the necessity of every item, whether it was an ongoing or something that they were hoping to propose as an enhancement in FY27. Everything was scrutinized to determine whether it was necessary to the good functioning of the City of Sandy Springs. So after the department submitted their budget request at the end of March, in April, Tony and Kristen and Caroline and Michael and Tanya and I met with every department to go line by line through each of their requests and determine what should be formulated into the initial budget plans that you see today, which is our first budget workshop. After today's budget workshop, you all of course will ask questions in this presentation, but also after the meeting, submit any questions that you may have to meet and we will bring answers to those questions back at our second budget workshop along with any suggested changes that council may have. That will be on May 19th, once again at 2 p.m. That will then lead us to the city manager's proposed budget, which we will present on May 26th, and that will also be budget workshop number three. That'll be followed by our first public hearing, June 2nd at 6 p.m. as part of our council meeting, and then ultimately our second public hearing and council's vote on the budget June 16th. As a reminder, our budget must be adopted by the end of the current fiscal year, which ends on June 30th. Any questions on the calendar? Hearing none. This should look very familiar to council. After your annual retreat, council adopted revised priorities interweaving innovation into everything that we do. We practice a priority-based budgeting philosophy here in Sandy Springs. We build our budget off of the priorities that are adopted annually by mayor and council, and funding is directed to those needs that advance the priorities as well as those that are critical to accomplishing core service delivery needs across the city. Every departmental request is evaluated in alignment with the priorities and our operational requirements. Let's talk a little bit about the purpose of today's meeting. Budget workshop one is truly the foundation of our budget process. This really orients mayor and council to the budget process. We walk through the assumptions that our budget has been built upon and providing the high-quality general government services that council as well as our community demands. Our primary focus today is to review the budget calendar and the decision points, discuss our major planning assumptions for revenues, for expenditures, and for staffing, discuss public safety, general government, and facility needs. We also, this is an open question and answer time for council to provide us feedback and direction as we move forward. And then also preview our capital priorities and continuation items. This meeting today is not meant to be a place for any final budget decisions to be made. This is truly again the foundation where we are discussing what will ultimately go into the city manager's recommended budget. There will be no public hearing action today. There is no line item detail of the budget. You will not see a line item detail until May 26th.