Around 40 people crowded into the Baldwin Municipal Courtroom Monday night to voice their opinions about the city’s proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Several voiced concerns about how the city is allocating public funds, including former Baldwin mayor Joe Elam.
“The mayor’s proposed budget is not balanced, which makes it technically non-compliant with state law,” Elam said.
The former mayor stated that the proposed budget reflects a general fund deficit of nearly $435,000. That would be offset by a proposed 57% property tax increase. Pointing to tax increases in 2024 and 2023, Elam asked, “When does all this end, I wonder?”
Elam also asserted that the proposed Fiscal Year 2026 budget is not based on the city’s financial position because there were no statements of fund balances.
“Where’s the $2,649,587 of unassigned fund balancing from the FY2023 audit?” Elam asked. “Why is one of our employees alone costing the city taxpayers $168,569.07 a year?”
Former Baldwin mayoral candidate Tom Whitney also voiced his concerns, noting that Baldwin does not yet have its financial audit for FY2024.
“So, the budget being voted on here at the end of the month and the tax increase that we’re all going to share is being built in financials that are more than a year out of date. That’s not just frustrating, I’ll be honest, that’s reckless,” Whitney said.
He also addressed what he referred to as “the elephant in the room.”
“What happened to the $2.6 million in unassigned fund balance that was sitting there at the end of fiscal year 2023?” Whitney asked. “We’ve asked for transparency. We’ve been told records don’t exist. But if that money is gone, the citizens of Baldwin deserve to know exactly when and how, and we deserve to see the breakdown now. Not months from now, not when the audit is done, now,” Whitney demanded to applause from the crowd.
Almagno answers
Baldwin Mayor Stephanie Almagno addressed Elam’s and Whitney’s concerns, saying the unassigned fund balancing was a combination of the fund balance for 2022, 2023, American Rescue Plan Act funds, and the balancing mechanism for fiscal years 2024 and 2025.
“We haven’t stolen the money. It has been appropriated responsibly, contrary to what you have to say,” Almagno said.
She also placed partial responsibility for the negative reception to the budget plan on Elam, saying that his enforced tax cuts in 2022 forced a higher millage in 2023.
“You can grandstand all you want,” Almagno said. “You were part of this. We wanted to build a city that was better than what it was in 2020.”
WATCH
June 9, 2025, Baldwin City Council meeting
More heated exchanges
Mayor Almagno’s assurances did little to ease concerns in the room. Chandler Heights resident Cindy Lifsey called the council’s proposed budget “immoral.” She said she paid $1,425 in city taxes last year – four times the amount she paid while living in the Atlanta suburb of Johns Creek.
“I don’t understand why a city as small as this needs a 4-plus-million budget. It makes no sense to me,” Lifsey said.
Lifsey questioned budget line items for administrative office supplies—$17,000—and uniforms—$2,500. “It’s all the things that nobody pays attention to,” she said, calling for increased scrutiny of Baldwin’s finances.
“I’m upset to say the least because I’m looking at another several hundred dollar tax increase coming up if ya’ll go forward with what you’re planning to do. I can only imagine what other people are feeling that are on fixed incomes and have big parcels of land they’re having to pay taxes on,” she said.
Later, Lifsey drew a heated response from Councilwoman Alice Venter when she questioned the need for employees to have take-home vehicles.
“[Public Works employees] get up in the middle of the night from their home and come out and get into holes full of water in 20-degree weather. Ma’am, you don’t know what you’re talking about, all due respect,” shouted Venter.
Regaining her composure, Venter clarified for another audience member that property taxes pay for gas and maintenance on the vehicles. The city uses Special Local Option Sales tax dollars to purchase the vehicles.
Gaveling out and asking for change
The most vocal negative reception from the crowd came after Mayor Almagno defended the pay raise for Baldwin’s Chief Administrative Officer, Emily Woodmaster, who also serves as the city’s human resources director and finance director.
“You should be thanking her for doing three jobs,” Almagno said, which was met with loud groans from the audience.
Almagno later stated, “Our job is to prepare for the future, which previous councils didn’t do.”
As debate continued and tensions rose, Almagno asked the council for a motion to adjourn. She gaveled out the hour-and-a-half-long meeting on unanimous consent.
During remarks earlier in the meeting, Elam and Whitney urged the city council to reconsider the proposed spending plan before adopting it. Said Whitney, “We need leadership. We need a plan. We need it now, before you vote.”
The Baldwin City Council must adopt a new budget by the end of June. To view the proposed budget, visit the
city’s website
.
