Revising Augusta's city charter could take 18 months, cost $200,000, says UGA

Augusta commissioners got a look Wednesday at what will be involved with reviewing and revising the city’s 28-year-old charter .

Lori Brill, a public service assistant at the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia, walked commissioners through the process that she said will probably take about 18 months to complete.

The first step will be to create and approve a resolution that will be a blueprint to establishing a committee to revise the 153-page document, she said. Brill agreed to write the resolution for the commissioners, but they would have to make the decisions about the purpose, committee appointments, funding, scope and more.

“The committee should be completely independent” of the commission, she said.

More: Augusta mayor wants to form committee to review city charter; commissioners 'tap the brakes'

The commission will decide how members will be selected, but no commissioner, the mayor, or city employee should be a part of it, she said. The committee’s meetings should be open to the public and may want to meet monthly. She suggested holding public hearings to get ideas and opinions from residents.

Brill said a common way to set up a committee like this is to have each commissioner appoint a member. They also will need to decide how the chairman will be selected.

The resolution would include the committee's rules, attendance requirements, and other needed governing rules.

The UGA Institute of Government can can write the resolution and work with the commission through the process, she said. She estimated the cost would be about $200,000, depending on the scope.

She also recommended conducting a review every seven to 10 years.

The final document must be approved by the Georgia General Assembly. “You really want to get this right,” she said.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Revising Augusta's city charter could take 18 months, cost $200,000, says UGA