Gwinnett approves property tax hike

By Patrick Fox

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Gwinnett property owners will receive another bill for 2009 taxes early next year.

By a 4-1 vote, county commissioners approved a nearly 21 percent increase in its share of property taxes Tuesday night. The action means the owner of a $200,000 home will receive an additional bill for $160 for 2009 taxes.

Commissioner Mike Beaudreau cast the lone dissenting vote, saying the 2009 budget was legitimate but that he disagreed with raising property taxes as a means to fund it.

The vote followed an hour of comment from about two dozen residents among the more than 400 who filled most of the auditorium at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center in Lawrenceville.

The measure will provide the county with an additional $52 million to maintain emergency services, courts and recreation at levels established earlier this year. A good portion, about one-third, will be used to retire debt and compensate for a drop in commercial values predicted for next year.

Both Superior Court Judge Tom Davis and District Attorney Danny Porter have said the budget cuts implemented over the summer would most certainly lead to major delays if not the crippling of the justice system. They asked commissioners to ensure they be given the funding to do their constitutionally mandated jobs.

About $15.7 million of the new revenue will be applied to public safety, including staffing three fire stations, adding 55 uniformed police officers, staffing the Quality of Life Unit, instituting radio maintenance and fleet replacement. Through 2009, the county police department has cut 44 positions and now stands at 696 sworn officers.

Like the two public hearings held Nov. 23, which drew a total of about 450 people, comments directed at commissioners were mixed. But the overriding sentiment from the audience, expressed in the level of applause, was against the proposal.

Proponents argued the tax increase would allow the county to maintain what has made it so attractive to residents: a quality of life that rivals all others in metro Atlanta. Opponents had argued county officials have turned a deaf ear to the plight of homeowners who are faced with unemployment and other economic hardships. Still others have said they would support a smaller tax increase earmarked for emergency services only.

County Commissioner Kevin Kenerly proposed the tax increase in October, three months after residents turned out en masse to almost uniformly shout down a 30 percent county property tax hike. That measure failed 5-0. Kenerly has said service cuts, undertaken because of budget reductions, are "damaging our community."

Only two County Commission seats are up for election next year. Neither commissioner who holds those seats, Kenerly or Bert Nasuti, is running for re-election.