Special police tax coming in DeKalb

By April Hunt

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

DeKalb County’s unique form of government is about to make it special yet again: it is the first in Georgia with its own separate account for police services.

Tax bills going out next month will include a line that shows the 5.94 mill tax, which will raise nearly $69 million for the $103 million police budget. The tax fund is not new but a breakout of how much general fund money goes to the department. The cost for police services to the average taxpayer is $14-$19 a month for homes assessed between $155,000 and $200,000.

The goal was to protect the police department from cuts when the commission directed spending reductions elsewhere in the county's budget. For residents, that means future budget cuts won't include the police department unless commissioners specifically vote on that item.

The small change in how the property tax bills are broken down has caught the attention of residents as well as other metro governments.

“I think if they’re going to raise taxes, it’s good to know where the money is going,” said Pamela Smith, a piano teacher who lives in Boyer’s district in north DeKalb. “It’s like shopping. If you know what you’re paying for, you can make an informed decision.”

County Commissioner Elaine Boyer proposed the separate fund last year after Chief Executive Officer Burrell Ellis threatened to cut public safety instead of shutting down things such as senior centers or a water park when the commission directed him to make cuts.

Under the CEO form of government, the commission approves the overall budget, but the CEO determines where that money goes.

Because of that power struggle, Boyer's proposal won unanimous approval from fellow commissioners last fall and earned legislative approval last winter. Ellis also signed off on the change, saying, “It gives people a clear idea where their money is going to."

The change required the county create a separate tax district fund for the police budget, a move delayed by Ellis' staff in favor of focusing on the overall budget. Commissioners, though, threatened to derail a vote on the midyear 2011 budget without it.

Staff created the fund just hours before the county commission approved a 26 percent tax rate increase two weeks ago.  The tax hike overshadowed the new fund, but word is starting to get out.

That’s because police is the one service that residents of every political stripe agree their governments should provide.

Lack of police service and visibility has played a huge role in the new cities emerging in north Fulton and DeKalb. Dunwoody, for instance, incorporated in 2008 largely on voter support for its own police department.

Still Georgia’s newest city, Dunwoody launched its police force in a record four months because of residents’ repeated demands that they wanted to see officers on patrol and in their neighborhoods.

“This is a core service to everyone,” said state Rep. Tom Taylor, R-Dunwoody, who helped launch the city before being elected to the state House and co-sponsoring legislation allowing DeKalb to create its separate fund. “It's sacrosanct."

Most residents, though, appear to be like Shane Stitcher, a Realtor who supports the fund even though he didn’t know it existed.

Stitcher, who owns a home on the north side of DeKalb-Peachtree Airport, said he looks forward to seeing what his tax bill shows he is spending on police. He thinks the department does a good job and is mostly curious to see his contribution.

“It’s just an interesting thing to know,” he said.

Police Chief William O’Brien and Sgt. Jeff Wiggs, president of the DeKalb Fraternal Order of Police, both support the breaking out the police spending but are cautious about how it will be implemented.

"We're optimistic but want more clarity the police department will know it has the money for everything," Wiggs said.

As is, the fund represents 28 percent of the county’s 21.21 millage rate for the unincorporated area. Those tax dollars, combined with licenses fees and other revenue, will cover the $103 million needed to run police operations in DeKalb.

Between the separate account and tax increase, the money will help buy a second helicopter for the department and pay for 60-80 cadets to attend the police academy and join the force by year’s end. The department has 1,025 sworn officers, but only about 900 are on the road now.

Being able to make specific commitments with the money has drawn the interest of other counties and the Association County Commissioners of Georgia. The association is watching how the account works to see if it will make any recommendations for similar funds elsewhere.

Already, Gwinnett County is exploring if it could use a police fund to settle its long-standing debate with its cities over payment of services, said Clint Mueller, the association’s legislative director.

“We are very interested in when a special tax district makes sense and when you would want to break it out,” Mueller said.

In DeKalb, some residents like the special account so much, they’d like to see districts for other services such as libraries or parks.

The county cut library hours earlier this year as part of spending reductions, for instance. But some residents said they might be open to paying more for that service, if they had a similar guarantee the money would be restricted for that use.

“Of course I’m concerned about public safety, but I’m also concerned about other services,” said Saima Masud, a college student from Brookhaven. “We could have a healthy balance if we knew exactly how much was going where.”

That is the same point that Boyer makes in trying to get information out about the new police fund.

“People have this conspiracy idea that the money won’t go where we say,” Boyer said. “This is the only way I can get transparency for our citizens because of our crazy form of government.”