Latest News

Notice of Property Tax Increase

The City of Snellville has tentatively adopted a 2017 millage rate which will require an increase in property taxes 4.68 percent.

All concerned citizens are invited to the public hearing on this tax increase to be held at Snellville City Hall, 2342 Oak Road, Snellville, GA 30078 on Friday, June 30, 2017 at 11:30 a.m.

Times and places of additional public hearings on this tax increase are at Snellville City Hall on Friday, June 30, 2017 at 6:00 p.m. and Tuesday, July 10, 2017 at 7:30 p.m.

This tentative increase will result in a millage rate of 4.588 mills, an increase of 0.205 mills over the rollback rate, but no actual millage rate increase from last year. Without this tentative tax increase, the millage rate would be no more than the rollback rate of 4.383 mills. The proposed tax increase for a home with fair market value of $200,000 is approximately $16.40 and the proposed tax increase for non-homestead property (Commercial) with a fair market value of $550,000 is approximately $45.10.

SNELLVILLE – The city will have a lighting ceremony of the new Welcome to Snellville Monument on Highway 78, July 10.

The ceremony will take place under the monument at 6 p.m. July 10 at 2992 Main St. (Highway 78).

There will be remarks by city officials. A work session of the Mayor and Council will take place as scheduled at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall. The regular meeting will take place at 7:30 p.m.

The monument is the final piece of the Downtown Development Authority's first phase of its Wayfinding Project which was completed two years ago. Signs added to the Towne Green and City Hall were also a part of this effort. The monument is a 30-foot structure which encompasses architectural attributes of City Hall, including a replica of the cupula on top of City Hall. The monument is meant to represent the Eternal Flame on the Veterans Memorial in front of City Hall.

The DDA's efforts are now turning toward extending the Wayfinding Project to South Snellville on Lenora Church Road and Scenic Highway.

The public is welcome to attend.

Upcoming Senior Center Events

Upcoming Parks and Recreation Events

Making sure walking and biking opportunities for residents are safe and plentiful, the city is taking part in new initiatives to accomplish that goal.

City officials and residents were proud to take part in the Atlanta Regional Commission Workshop for Walk and Bike Friendly Communities in April.

The workshop was part of the ARC's effort to make Atlanta-area cities more walkable and bike friendly.

While Snellville has more work to do to better walking and biking conditions, the Livable Centers Initiative sidewalk project downtown was cited as a major achievement toward reaching that goal.

The city will now take recommendations collected from the workshop and begin to implement them.

Also "Share the Road" signage has been set up at various points in the city and bike racks have been put in place on the Towne Green and in front of City Hall.

SNELLVILLE – City officials are proud to announce the hire of new City Planner Austin Shelton.

Shelton has bachelor's degree in Sociology from Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Ga. and a master's degree in City and Regional Planning (MCRP) from Georgia Tech.

For the past year he's been a GIS and research analyst at the Atlanta Community Food Bank. Before graduating from Georgia Tech, he worked in real estate and marketing for a real estate team in Chattanooga, Tenn.

"I've always been fascinated with history and architecture, and I loved looking at buildings and towns and learning about who built them and how places got started and grew up," Shelton said. "I first got into planning after working with affordable housing and LEED construction developers and being involved in some historic preservation projects in my neighborhood while working in Chattanooga. I started wondering how people got jobs working on cool projects that help shape cities."

Shelton was born in Columbus, Ga. and lived in Cataula, just outside Columbus, until he moved to Chattanooga for college.

"Like the rest of Gwinnett, Snellville is growing and changing," Shelton said. "My goal is to help guide the city's growth by helping it better connect to the rest of the metro area and stand out as a welcoming and exciting place for individuals and families to live and work."

SNELLVILLE – City officials are proud to unveil a promotional video highlighting the vision of the Towne Center @Snellville.

The video, created by Blue Rose Media Solutions and city staff, gives just a taste of what is to come to Snellville in the near future as part of the city's downtown redevelopment project.

"We are excited to release this new video that highlights the vision of Snellville's future Towne Center," said Mayor Tom Witts. "We are working every day to move this plan forward to create the place to make Snellville proud. The future is exciting and we hope you will check out the video and continue to engage in the process as we move our Towne Center Plan forward."

The Towne Center will be a destination Snellville leaders envision as a place where residents and visitors alike can shop, enjoy entertainment, live and work. The project will be located around the area of City Hall and several plans are in the works which will turn this concept into reality in the near future.

Go online to watch learn more about the Towne Center and this exciting promotional video now at http://www.snellville.org/the-towne-center-snellville.

SNELLVILLE – The city's Youth Commission has a new leader.

Snellville resident Christopher O'Donoghue was tapped to lead the commission designed to promote high school student participation in local government.

O'Donoghue will oversee all activities related to the Snellville Youth Commission, including the student recruitment process, records management and promotion of the SYC, according to the job's description.

"In order to be a productive citizen, it makes sense to make sure you know how the world works around you," O'Donoghue said. "The idea for (students in the Youth Commission) is to bridge the gap between them and elected officials and see it play out – at least understand why things (in government) happen."

O'Donoghue, who is a systems analyst for human resource company Aon Hewitt, will serve as Youth Outreach Coordinator on a part-time basis.

The Snellville Youth Commission is the brainchild of Councilwoman and South Gwinnett High School teacher Cristy Lenski who created it as a way to get students more involved in the city.

SNELLVILLE – The Mayor and Council approved an overall budget of $11,344,770 Monday, keeping the millage rate at 4.588 mills, the same as last year.

"The new budget keeps the same millage rate and allows us to stay on track for our three-year plan to be salary competitive for all our employees," said City Manager Butch Sanders. "We also continue to meet our capital needs in street paving and storm water system repair."

Overall, the Fiscal Year 2018 Budget is up 4.9 percent or $549,000 over the 2017 FY Budget. A bulk of the increase comes from a lengthy renovation of the city's Unified Development Ordinance which will pave the way for future development in the city. The renovation will cost $120,000.

Capital needs are being met with $680,000 for street resurfacing and $662,000 in stormwater improvements.

Positive local economic growth is shown in several strong city revenue items including four years of positive Occupational Tax growth, a 40 percent increase in building permits in the past three years and a 20-percent increase in recreation programs in the last two years.

There will be millage rate hearings at 11:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. June 30 and at 7:30 p.m. July 10 in Council Chambers in City Hall.