Cobb chairman: Optimism is well founded | www.myajc.com

Tim Lee needs to cover a lot of ground — well beyond the 60 acres in Cumberland where a new Atlanta Braves stadium and mixed-use development will rise — when he delivers his State of the County address this morning to hundreds of Cobb County’s business, civic and government leaders.

Lee, the chairman of the county commission who helped negotiate the Braves’ move to Cobb County last year, said landing the big leagues in suburban Cobb will certainly be a big part of his annual address at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre.

But the most urgent message is that Cobb continued its climb out of the recession last year, and the chairman expects continued growth in 2014.

In an interview last week, Lee said the county finished last year with revenues slightly up over projections, property values lost no ground, and expenses stayed in check. All of that allowed the county a modest surplus.

Cobb also added to its rainy-day fund, which now has $48.8 million, or about 15 percent of the county’s budget.

“Everything we’ve done to get us ready for this year worked,” Lee said. “We ended 2013 without an Achilles heal. We have a clean slate heading into ‘14, and we anticipate we’ll be slightly up from a revenue perspective.”

Other reasons for optimism, Lee said: Investment levels have finally scratched their way back to pre-recession levels, and the county maintained its triple AAA bond rating for the 17th consecutive year.

Charles Bullock, a political science professor at the University of Georgia, said such speeches are always a combination of looking forward and looking back. He said they can sometimes turn into “boast sessions,” and said he definitely expects Lee to take a victory lap for landing the Braves.

via Cobb chairman: Optimism is well founded | www.myajc.com.