Mustangs sweep softball tourney ► PAGE 9
October 9, 2025 | AppenMedia.com | An Appen Media Group Publication | Ser ving the community since 1976
Dunwoody foresees financial wiggle room in 2026 budget By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com DUNWOODY, Ga. — Dunwoody Mayor Lynn Deutsch said she’s been able to exhale a little bit after an “exceptional year” of growing revenues, allowing the city to balance its proposed 2026 budget.
Senior city staff and City Council members discussed the budget Sept. 29 at a morning workshop. While the city’s structural deficit appears to be resolved, Deutsch is looking to return to the city’s pre-pandemic budgeting approach. “I want to talk about where we are
fiscally as a city, and where we’ve come from and what we went through,” she said. “Way back at the beginning of [cityhood] … we would save for capital projects through operating budget revenues, and then we would build them.” Soon after Deutsch took office, the pandemic hit, ushering in a period of
uncertainty and inflation. “Financial security seemed like a fantasy at that point,” she said. “Seventy percent of Dunwoody’s property taxes come from the commercial district at this point, so I reined things in.”
See BUDGET, Page 17
Village Crossing enhancements eligible for more federal money By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com
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In Memorium - Michael Nash The Dunwoody community is mourning the loss of legendary Dunwoody High School head football coach Mike Nash, who died Oct. 3 following emergency surgery. Nash, 51, stepped down in February after leading the Wildcats to two consecutive playoff berths. His decade of service to the school and the community garnered praise and recognition throughout the city. See story, page 4.
DUNWOODY, Ga. — Dunwoody’s Village Crossing project, which calls for enhancements along a nearly mile-long stretch of Chamblee Dunwoody Road, may get a shot in the arm. At the Sept. 29 City Council meeting, the Public Works Department presented an agreement with the Georgia Department of Transportation to accept an additional $1.6 million in federal funding to complete the project’s final design. Votes to formally accept the federal money and fully fund the project’s design are set for a meeting later this year. While staff’s memo referenced a $600,000 federal grant with a required $150,000 local match,
Public Works Deputy Director Michelle Hirose said she was notified earlier that day of an additional $1 million for the project. “Costs have gone up … even like three years ago, I never thought I’d be looking at these numbers,” Hirose said, referencing the final design contract. “That’s why I asked for the additional money. We just applied for it, maybe a month or two ago.” While construction is not slated to begin until 2029, the city is allocating federal and county dollars to fund the revamp of the main cor ridor splitting the Dunwoody Village from Womack Road to Roberts Drive. The project’s current design calls for a more walkable and bikefriendly corridor, with added trafficcalming measures.
See CROSSING, Page 16
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