Business leaders in the Gwinnett Village area are wasting no time in creating a tax allocation district.

Just days after voters approved a referendum allowing the county to create the taxing districts, the Gwinnett Village Community Improvement District is preparing to sign a contract with an Atlanta-based market consultant to determine the dimensions and financial possibilities of a TAD along the Jimmy Carter Boulevard corridor.

The district would likely include the mostly vacant OFS fiber optics plant at Jimmy Carter Boulevard and I-85. A developer interested in building on the site has said a tax allocation district will be necessary to make the project viable.

Whether the district would encompass the entire Jimmy Carter Boulevard/I-85 interchange, or perhaps even all of the CID — which runs to Buford Highway — remains undecided, CID executive director Chuck Warbington said.

Tax allocation districts work by diverting tax revenue from rising property values into a special fund used to help pay for redevelopment. Supporters say they are key to improving declining areas.

Gwinnett voters in Tuesday's primary election approved their use, 58 percent to 42 percent.

Such districts are significantly less powerful than they were before February, when the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that education funds cannot be diverted in the tax districts. Voters will consider an amendment to the state constitution addressing that issue in November.

Several steps remain before a TAD could be formed, said Alfie Meek, who handles economic development projects for the county.

County officials have completed a draft of guidelines on the use of TADs that must next be signed by County Administrator Jock Connell to take effect, Meek said.

After that, the County Commission must appoint a board to serve as the county's redevelopment agency, and that group must create a redevelopment plan naming target areas for TADs. Then, both the redevelopment agency and the County Commission must hold public hearings on the creation of any TAD, Meek said.

The county hopes to create the agency in August, hold the first public hearing in October and have final county approval of the TAD by November.

Why the hurry, especially with the November ballot issue looming?

By creating the district before the end of this year, the district would begin collecting tax money in 2009 and much of the work would already be done when a developer does come calling, Warbington said.

The group also wants to make sure the public has sufficient opportunity to comment on a plan before the County Commission votes on it.

"Being the first one, we need to make sure it is done right," he said.