Gwinnett Picks 4 Residents to Help Decide How Your Tax Dollars Get Spent

County leaders want your neighbors to weigh in on next year’s budget before they vote on it.

📋 What’s Happening: Four residents will spend the next few weeks listening to county departments explain what they need money for next year. The group includes a church leader, an insurance expert, a school advocate, and a nonprofit executive who all live in Gwinnett.

💰 What It Means For You: Your tax dollars could go toward different services based on what these four local residents think matters most. Their ideas will shape what the county spends money on in 2026 – from roads to parks to public safety.

🔍 Between the Lines: This is the second year these same four people have helped shape the budget. County Chair Nicole Love Hendrickson picked them to give regular residents a voice in how billions of tax dollars get spent.

Who Are They?: The group members are:

David Cuffie – CEO of Total Vision Consulting and church‑ministry director.

Michael Park – Commercial insurance and risk‑management advisor, active in the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.

Denise Rumbaugh – Zoning Board of Appeals member who also serves on the Gwinnett County Public Schools disciplinary committee.

Ronald Skeete – Non‑profit executive and volunteer leader with 100 Black Men of North Metro Atlanta.

📅 What’s Next: The group starts meeting today. You can watch videos of the budget talks online after each meeting. The final budget plan comes out in November, and county leaders vote on it in January.

🏛️ The Big Picture: Many local governments make budget decisions behind closed doors. Gwinnett is trying something different by bringing in residents early in the process. This could mean spending that better matches what people actually want.

The Sources: Gwinnett County Government.