Lower taxes, not split, is answer to Fulton gripes

To save money during the Great Depression, Milton County to the north and Campbell County to the south became part of Fulton County. In that same year of 1932, Cobb County ceded to Fulton the city of Roswell and lands east of Willeo Creek. Over the last 77 years, Fulton has become the most populous county in Georgia and the core county of the Atlanta metropolitan area.

Today, the Legislature is proposing to break up Fulton, re-creating Milton to the north. The taxpayers of North Fulton, with 29 percent of the county’s population paying 42 percent of all county property tax, feel they are overtaxed and that the Board of Commissioners has ignored them. The proposed secession would mean the loss of $193 million in county revenues from North Fulton (approximately one-third of the general fund budget of $640 million) and significantly higher taxes for the remaining taxpayers.

Many county taxpayers agree that taxes are too high. But instead of proposing to secede, many taxpayers are lobbying the commissioners to significantly reduce taxes and improve services.

With 95 percent of Fulton incorporated — obviating the need for county police, firefighters, roads, public works, planning and zoning, etc. — the rationale for tax reduction is obvious. The growing municipal incorporations in Fulton (Sandy Springs, Johns Creek, Milton and Chattahoochee Hills) have resulted in a reduction of the general fund millage rate by 26 percent. Disappointingly, the Fulton budget has actually increased by $24 million from the year prior to the incorporations compared to the 2009 budget. On the other hand, the taxpayers of North Fulton must understand that the courts, the sheriff, Grady Hospital and libraries alone comprise well over 50 percent of the entire budget. Rather than secession, here’s what we need:

1. The commissioners should appoint a blue ribbon committee to negotiate with the North Fulton leaders in resolving their differences.

2. We should outsource most county services as has been done successfully in Sandy Springs, Johns Creek and Milton. To his credit, County Manager Zachary Williams has already introduced performance-based metrics for every job to weed out under-performing employees, a good step.

3. The commissioners should alternate monthly meetings between downtown Atlanta and North Fulton. There should also be closer discussions between the commissioners and the leaders of North Fulton.

The North Fulton taxpayers could achieve their objectives without the need to break up Fulton. Maintaining the unity of Fulton’s 77-year tradition could be far more productive than divisiveness.

• John S. Sherman is president of the Fulton County Taxpayers Foundation.