Judge: $4.3 million DeKalb bond illegal

A judge has denied DeKalb County’s petition to issue bonds for a performing arts center that is already under construction in south DeKalb.

The county borrowed money from various county funds to get the construction under way, and now has to look elsewhere to replenish those funds.

Officials planned to get money by issuing $4.3 million in bonds through the county’s quasi-governmental development authority, and repaying the authority over time using receipts from a rental car tax.

Now, DeKalb Superior Court Judge Daniel M. Coursey Jr. has ruled that approach was illegal.

Normally, these bond hearings, which are a mandatory part of the debt vetting process, result in approval. But state Rep. Mike Jacobs (R-Atlanta) intervened, arguing that a law he shepherded through the Legislature made it illegal for the Development Authorty of DeKalb County to issue bonds without getting approval from voters in a referendum.

Cities and counties must secure permission from voters to issue general obligation bonds, but development authorities can sell bonds without securing voters’ permission. Jacobs argued all that changed for DeKalb on May 24, 2007, when House Bill 181, a bill targeting the county, became law.

The county can appeal Coursey’s decision to the Georgia Supreme Court.