Before the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners give their final approval on next year’s budget, residents will weigh in on county government priorities.
Gwinnett County department directors and elected officials – from the Sheriff’s Office to the Clerk of Courts – will present their 2023 business plans to a Citizens Review Team beginning Monday, August 29. Following the series of presentations, Chairwoman Nicole Hendrickson and the group will analyze the needs of departments and agencies that provide services to Gwinnett residents and businesses. From there, the team will recommend funding priorities from the viewpoint of a resident.
As our County grows, so do the service needs of our various stakeholders,” Hendrickson said. “This budgeting process, which engages a diverse panel of residents, ensures greater transparency and accountability in setting our funding priorities to meet those growing needs.
Veteran team members Hilda Abbott, David Cuffie, Michelle Kang and Asif Jessani will again lend their expertise. Abbott is the founder of RudHil Companies, co-chair of the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s Hispanic Business Center and member of the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, and Cuffie is CEO of Total Vision Consulting LLC and director of church ministries for Berean Christian Church Gwinnett. Kang is with the Korean American Public Action Committee of Atlanta, and Jessani is a principal marketing and technology consultant with CCS. Cuffie and Jessani both graduated from Gwinnett 101 Citizens Academy and have stayed active as advocates and volunteers for the County. New to the review team this year is Buzz Brockway, vice president of public policy at the Georgia Center for Opportunity and former member of the Georgia House of Representatives where he served on the appropriations, education, insurance, and governmental affairs committees.
Recordings and on-demand video of the budget presentations can be found here. The business plans will also be available on the County’s government access channel TVgwinnett.
The Chairwoman’s proposed 2023 budget will be available to the public and news media when presented to board members in November. A public hearing will be held December 5, 2022. By county ordinance, the Board of Commissioners must adopt the annual budget during its first meeting in January.