Gwinnett County officials have said no property tax increases are planned to help pay for the new baseball stadium, but records obtained under the Georgia Open Records Act reveal that's not necessarily the case.

The documents show officials discussed a small property tax increase in the context of the overall financing package for the stadium, which will house the top minor-league affiliate of the Atlanta Braves.

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The $45 million stadium for the Braves' minor-league team will be built in Lawrenceville. County officials said there would be no tax increases to pay for it, but documents reveal officials have talked about a small tax hike in the context of stadium financing.

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One document, handwritten notes on the stadium project, lists four "county actions," including an increase in recreation taxes:

"— Buy Land — $12 million

— Inact (sic) car rental tax

— Issue Bonds

— Raise Rec. Millage from .80 to 1.00 in 09."

The tax increase is also mentioned as one of three points under a discussion of the county's $12 million withdrawal from the recreation fund surplus, according to a printout of a presentation County Manager Jock Connell said he gave to commissioners in a closed session. The presentation reads: "Will require .20 mill increase for recreation in 2009."

Such an increase would cost the owner of a $250,000 home $18.60 a year.

Connell said at least part of the handwritten notes were his and acknowledged mentioning raising the recreation fund's tax rate in stadium presentations to the commission, but said it was not tied it to the stadium project.

He said he merely was taking the opportunity to remind commissioners that the rate may eventually have to be raised to meet operating obligations for all the new parks the county has built in recent years.

He said that would be the case regardless of the commission's decision on the stadium project.

"We constantly remind them," he said.

County Commissioner Bert Nasuti, who came up with the idea to bring minor-league baseball to the county, agreed.

He said he remembers Connell warning of possible property tax increases, including in the recreation fund, as long as 18 months ago, and said he didn't interpret the presentation on the stadium as tying the increase to baseball.

"It wasn't presented to me as, 'If you do this, you must do that,' " he said.

Connell said that he has no plans to suggest such a tax increase, and Finance Director Lisa Johnsa suggested the recreation fund's large surplus — $13.6 million, or nearly three times the minimum required by the county — means no tax increase would be necessary in the short term.

Commissioner Mike Beaudreau declined to comment on the property tax issue, and the other three commissioners did not return telephone messages.

County officials initially said the $45 million stadium to be built on Buford Drive near I-85 in Lawrenceville would pay for itself. A week after announcing the deal with the Atlanta Braves, the County Commission voted to create a new car rental tax that is projected to generate $600,000 a year to help pay off the stadium debt.

At the time, county officials noted the tax was always a part of the financing package and said it hadn't become public because reporters hadn't asked about it. They also said no other taxes or fees had been discussed.

Learning that county officials may have discussed a property tax increase connected to the stadium didn't surprise Lee Baker of Lilburn, who is excited about the prospect of minor league ball in the county but critical of the how the county decided to build the stadium without public input.

"It's politics as usual behind closed doors," said Baker, executive director of the independent Gwinnett Sports Council — a group of about 50 Gwinnett residents interested in promoting athletic and recreational activities in the county.

He said he would likely support an increase in the tax rate to improve recreational opportunities in the county, but said the baseball stadium will benefit few people other than developers and the Atlanta Braves.

Baker said a project such as putting a roof on Stone Mountain Stadium, the former Olympic tennis venue that sits mostly unused, would serve the county better than the baseball stadium.

"It's really an irritant to me to see the county bend over backwards to give the Braves a stadium and yet do nothing with an existing world class facility that would be more beneficial to the taxpayers and the youth of the county," he said.

If the recreation tax is increased, it would reverse a trend of reductions since 1999.

The millage stood at its legal maximum of 1 mill the previous year, according to Johnsa.

In that period, Connell said, the county has built numerous new parks, all of which are maintained out of the recreation fund.