City Council got its first official look Monday at proposals for Milton’s next budget, including potentially adding two more school liaison officers and bringing two currently outsourced IT professionals in-house.

These suggestions were made during the first of several presentations planned over the coming months related to the Fiscal Year 2026 budget, which will run from October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2026. As Deputy City Manager Bernadette Harvill explained, City staff will discuss – and welcome feedback on – elements of this next budget in focused sections at upcoming public meetings. The Council is set to vote on adopting Milton’s final FY2026 budget on September 15.

On Monday night, Harvill reviewed that timeline before handing off to Information Services Director Ashley Smith. Smith shared a proposal to shift two contracted on-site employees and, instead, having the City employ them directly. Doing so would save Milton money as well as allow for better knowledge retention, improved staffing coverage, and enhanced ability to complete projects.

Police Chief Jason Griffin presented next, beginning by noting the extraordinary impact of Milton’s current school liaison officer (SLO). This initiative – in which the officer bolsters school safety while building trust and being an invaluable role model to students – has been emulated by other cities and been embraced by Fulton County Schools leaders.

Griffin pointed out the challenge of serving all 10 public and private schools in Milton with a single officer. This could be addressed by adding two officers who, along with the existing SLO and the Police Department’s Community Outreach Officer, could ensure fuller coverage within schools as well as provide more expansive, worthwhile community outreach during non-school hours.

Mayor Peyton Jamison said Monday that a FCS board member told him she is “very excited” about expanding Milton’s SLO program.

And Councilmember Doug Hene added, “I’m proud of our city (for) leading the way.”

Later, Harvill along with Public Works Director Sara Leaders outlined budget proposals that included funds to implement elements of Milton’s in-the-works Americans with Disabilities Act plan, remove unneeded and deteriorating structures from City properties, and alter expected outlays in the City’s long-term Capital Improvement Plan (for things like Fire vehicles) to account for increased prices.

MULTIPLE AGREEMENTS TO CONTINUE ARTS, ATHLETICS PROGRAMS

This discussion – which did not involve any votes – came midway through an evening that began with the Council’s unanimous approval of the July 21 meeting’s Consent Agenda. This featured agreements with:

• KidCreate Studio for its instructors to continue leading youth art classes and camps at City recreational spaces
• McKinstry Viridis to perform a condition assessment, analyze energy usage, assess electric vehicle opportunities, and do more at City facilities using funding from a federal Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant
• The Milton Mustangs Swim Club to, once again, be a City-affiliated program that practices and competes based out of the City Pool at Milton City Park and Preserve
• Starr Petronella to continue offering photography classes and camps at City locales
• The Milton Tennis Center and its leader, Terre O’Brien, to oversee lessons and competitive matches for young and old at Milton City Park and Preserve’s courts
• Rani Badawy to teach drawing, sketching, painting, and other art classes for teens and adults through Milton’s Parks and Recreation Department
• The Statham family to formalize their ingress and egress access to the Broadwell Pavilion parking area through July 5, 2032

FUNDING SHIFT FINALIZES 39 ACRES OFF HOPEWELL BECOMING GREENSPACE

The City Council also unanimously approved an alcohol beverage license for El Castillo, a new full-service Mexican restaurant in Birmingham Crossroads next to I Love NY Pizza.

Then came the meeting’s final item to formalize the preservation of roughly 39 acres off Hopewell Road as a City greenspace.

The Council made this official by transferring $4.9 million from Milton’s Greenspace Bond Fund to its Capital Projects Fund, where it can now be used for other purposes.

The City purchased this property, in two separate installments, in 2023. The Council voted earlier this year to take the property – which borders Providence Park – off the market so it could become a City greenspace. (To learn more about this program, visit www.miltonga.gov/Greenspace.)

Monday’s unanimous vote made that process official.

“It has been a long two years, and I think we did a great job of pivoting,” Mayor Jamison said, pointing out movement to serve athletic programs’ needs at an eventual new active park off Deerfield Parkway. “It worked out well.”

The Council is next set to convene for a Regular Meeting on August 4.