Gold Dome Live is moving!
Our new spot will allow us to get the news to you even faster and make commenting easier. Please bookmark the new site and sign up for our rss feed:
http://blogs.ajc.com/gold-dome-live/
AJC.com > Legislature > Blog > Archives > 2007 > March > 27 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USPrivate cities measure fails
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A resolution that would allow Georgians to decide whether private “development districts” can tax homeowners in new planned communities to pay for roads, sewers, and other improvements failed by one vote in the state Senate today.
Lawmakers voted 37-15 in favor of Senate Resolution 309 —- one vote short of the two-thirds majority needed to send the proposed constitutional amendment to the House for consideration.
Initially, the Senate seemed poised to pass the two private development district proposals up for debate today. The Senate voted 37-17 in favor of Senate Bill 200, a measure that lays out the rules and regulations for the private development districts. But SR 309, the proposed constitutional amendment that Georgia voters would have to approve for the development districts to exist, received only 37 votes - one less than the 38 necessary for passage.
Sen. Johnny Grant (R-Milledgeville), the bill’s sponsor, argued that the proposals, if approved, would be a benefit to cash-strapped governments because development districts allow for infrastructure to be paid for by private developers instead of taxpayers.
“It should be one of the tools available to local governments,” Grant said.
The legislation had the backing of several of the state’s largest private developers, home builders, real estate agents and contractors. Development districts lower the costs of building out large planned communities, and allow developers to transfer those costs to homeowners.
Senate Minority Leader Robert Brown (D-Macon) spoke against the bill and resolution.
“This bill is a radical departure from the way people have done development business in Georgia,” Brown said.
“It does not kill this bill to hold it over. As it stands now, we are moving rapidly on a bill that I think potentially could do a lot of harm to the people of Georgia.”
The Senate at 1 p.m. voted in favor of reconsidering SR 309. Typically, a bill or resolution that is up for reconsideration goes back to the general calendar for a vote the next legislative day. However, because today is the deadline for a bill or proposed constitutional amendment to pass one chamber, the Senate voted in favor of suspending a procedural rule to allow for a reconsideration vote on SR 309 today. Sen. Steve Thompson (D-Powder Springs), who supports the development district legislation, made a motion to table the bill for the moment, because it appeared the resolution still did not have the 38 votes necessary for passage.
The reconsideration vote could come up at any time today.
Similar legislation failed last year.
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By Mike
March 27, 2007 4:14 PM | Link to this
Any senator voting for this should be defeated.