(Lawrenceville, Ga., March 16, 2010) - The volunteers who serve on Engage Gwinnett will hold their  12^th full meeting on Wednesday, March 17 from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Gwinnett Center, 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth. The six-month long initiative aims to involve and engage the community in county budget decision-making.

Meetings of the 42-member citizens committee on the future of Gwinnett County have been held every two weeks and are open to the public. Committee members hear from elected officials, County staff and local residents and participate in group discussions. On Wednesday the full committee will meet together briefly and then break into work groups to continue deliberations about their specific study areas. Committee members will complete their final recommendations for the Board of Commissioners on desired services, service levels and revenues for the next five years. Members have also been charged with coming up with recommendations for a worse-case-scenario in the event the tax digest continues to decrease in the coming years.

A community meeting will be held next month before the committee presents its findings to the Board of Commissioners. A report on the committee's recommendations will be complete by the end of April.

Engage Gwinnett is a partnership between Gwinnett County government and the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce. Mike Levengood of McKenna Long & Aldridge and Bill McCargo with the Atlanta Education Fund are volunteer leaders who co-chair the committee. Engage Gwinnett seeks common ground, workable solutions and compromises as necessary for the greater good of the community to help guide the County government through the recession and its aftermath.

Video coverage, meeting materials and more information are available online at www.engagegwinnett.com and at www.gwinnettcounty.com and on TVgwinnett, cable channel 23. Engage Gwinnett also has Facebook and Twitter links.