Dunwoody City Council approves $70 million budget for 2025

Dunwoody City Council approves  million budget for 2025



The Dunwoody City Council unanimously passed a proposed $70 million “no-frills” budget for 2025 that reflects a 5.29% increase over 2024.

According to reports presented at the Oct. 15 and Oct. 28 meetings by Richard Platto, the city’s finance director, Dunwoody remains in a strong financial position as it heads into fiscal year 2025.

“Staff approached developing the 2025 budget with two guiding parameters – to minimize the use of fund balance within the general fund and to keep the projected end-of-the-year general fund fund balance [reserve] over six months,” the report said. 

Platto said the last three year’s estimates indicated that the city would have to dip into the general fund to balance the budget, but because revenues exceeded projections and expenditures were lower than expected, it wasn’t necessary.

However, the 2025 budget, with revenues growing at about 2.4% and expenditures projected to be 6.7%, may force the city to dip into reserves, Platto said. The city would still have a healthy reserve balance of more than six months, even if the funds were needed to balance the budget.

In addition, he said, there are non-city revenues totaling about $2 million for expenditures that will not be funded beyond 2025, so alternative funding sources will have to be found if those services are to continue.

The city’s largest expense, its police force, remains at the top of its projected expenditures, about $17 million, which includes non-city contributions like Special Purpose Local Sales Tax revenues.

The 2025 budget includes an increase in police personnel from 78 to 87 and 4% raises for city employees. 

Dunwoody Councilman Tom Lambert at the Oct. 15 meeting addressed public concerns aired on social media and in local publications the perception that there is “out-of-control spending with the city council.”

“That is not the reality,” he said. “Despite what the public says, we have not ended with a deficit, in fact we have always ended with a surplus.”

Nobody spoke either in support or against the proposed budget at the Oct. 15 or Oct. 28 public hearing.





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