DeKalb County’s chief executive officer said Thursday that she has frozen nonessential spending and the creation of new jobs to safeguard crucial county services amid uncertainty about federal funding.
CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson issued an executive order this week prohibiting county departments under her supervision from creating new positions without her written consent and directing them to submit cost-saving strategies and revenue-generating proposals.
She said she also directed departments to “exercise fiscal responsibility in evaluating spending” and review and potentially scale back funding for “non-core programs and external events,” according to a press release.
“Let me be crystal clear, we are not eliminating services, and we are not laying off employees,” Cochran-Johnson said at Thursday’s news conference in Decatur. “This is about being responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars, ensuring that our core services and the people who rely on them, remain protected no matter what happens on the federal level or as a part of the broader economy.”
“We are not facing a crisis today,” she added, “but the warning signs are there.”
The freeze does not impact existing roles or programs already included in this year’s county budget approved by the Board of Commissioners, including the CEO’s plans to go on a “major hiring spree” to fill vacancies within the DeKalb Police Department. She said the police department has “received notice of a review pause” in funding for the Urban Area Security Initiative, which supports the county’s emergency preparedness.
Workforce DeKalb, which offers free resources for job seekers and employers, has not received notice of an official pause in funding, but “they also have not received the funding that is expected, associated with our mid-March appropriations,” Cochran-Johnson said.
“Thankfully, they have sufficient funding at this time to continue operations through June 30 for youth programs and through Aug. 31 for adult and dislocated-worker programs,” she said.
Cochran-Johnson, a former DeKalb County commissioner who became CEO in January, said the government is preparing for the possibility of a recession, which could lower property values and impact the county’s future tax digest.
“Add that to the potential increase of consumer goods that are, or would be, affected by recent tariffs and we’re facing a multifront economic challenge that simply requires, at this time, foresight and discipline,” Cochran-Johnson said.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
DeKalb receives about $346 million in federal funds each year, which support programs for senior care, people experiencing homelessness, public safety, accountability court, workforce development and food insecurity, county officials said, adding that these programs remain a top priority.
Zach Williams, the county’s chief operating officer, said after the news conference that at the start of this year, the county ended some food distributions that had relied on American Rescue Plan Act funds that have dried up.
Cochran-Johnson’s executive order was signed Wednesday and remains in effect until further notice, officials said.
Concerns about President Donald Trump’s efforts to freeze trillions in federal loans and grants extend well beyond DeKalb.
In Fulton County, a spokeswoman said officials are “monitoring our federal funding and grants activity very carefully and are working closely with our departments who receive federal funding to monitor communications from their funding agencies.”
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