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AJC: TAD Passed by BOC for Sembler Project Area
Posted on Tuesday, December 11 2007 @ 12:59:02 CST by kim |
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By TY TAGAMI, PAUL DONSKY, KRISTINA TORRES
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/11/07
In a surprise move Tuesday, the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners approved a special tax district for a congested area in north/central DeKalb, perhaps paving the way for a controversial $1 billion complex of stores, homes and offices.
The commissioners, who were expected to decide the issue Dec. 18, voted 5-2 to create the tax allocation district, or TAD, in the area around North Druid Hills and Briarcliff roads. That's where a developer, the Sembler Co., wants to build a virtual mini-city.
The TAD will earmark property tax growth in the 427-acre district to help pay for improvements of roads and other infrastructure.
"This would help us with traffic in that area probably for the next 25 years," Chief Executive Officer Vernon Jones said just before the vote.
Some neighborhood residents opposed the tax district because they feared it would only clear the way for Sembler's project, which they say is too massive for the area.
Tuesday's vote also comes without a commitment to join in the district from a crucial partner.
Without approval from the DeKalb school board, money collected in the tax district would come from only property taxes not earmarked for schools —less than half of what is typically collected. That could make it impossible to pay for extensive road and other improvements needed in the area.
DeKalb school officials historically have opposed TADs on the grounds that they divert money from education.
School board member Jim Redovian, who sits on a key board committee that would study whether to join the tax district, said Tuesday that the vote "doesn't do anything to obligate us."
What he said now needs to happen is discussion between the two governing bodies.
Commissioners Elaine Boyer and Burrell Ellis voted against the measure, though Ellis said he was a proponent of the financing mechanism. Though he voted against it, he urged the county school board to join the county's two pre-existing tax allocation districts, one along Memorial Drive and another in Avondale Estates.
"We strongly need the school board's participation," Ellis said.
County Finance Director Mike Bell said the district would generate 72 percent more money if the school system threw its taxes into the deal, since nearly three quarters of each property owner's tax bill goes to the schools.
The vote stunned some observers.
"I did not expect a vote today," said Jim Smith, the leader of the group StandUp DeKalb, which opposes the Sembler project.
Smith, who said the approval was "sad," said Commissioner Jeff Rader, who represents the area, handed out documents to residents indicating that the commission would not vote until Dec. 18. "So this came as a complete surprise," Smith said.
Rader was in the meeting and could not be reached for comment. He did not speak about the tax allocation district during the meeting.
Find this article at:
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/dekalb/stories/2007/12/11/dektad_1212_web.html?cxntlid=homepage_tab_newstab
Note: Thank you Max Rodrique for sharing this article!
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