The DeKalb Chamber of Commerce has decided to oppose the July 15 Dunwoody cityhood referendum.

"The Chamber believes that a City of Dunwoody would have a profoundly negative impact on the business community," the chamber said in a press release Monday.

The prestigious county business group is the first significant body to officially oppose the referendum which, if passed, would grant the north DeKalb community city status as of Dec. 1.

The chamber cited several reasons for its much-aniticipated decision, most of them financial.

The chamber said it has "significant reservations about the projected revenues and expenses that have been presented thus far." Those figures, contained in a study conducted by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia have been cited by the Citizens for Dunwoody Inc., among other groups, when discussing the impact of incorporation.

Specifically, the chamber questioned the fate of $1.4 million in Homestead Options Salex Tax (HOST) revenues.

Also, the chamber said in its release, "The critical issues of public safety expenditures and parks and recreation acquisition costs are major concerns. Not to mention, soaring oil prices will directly impact capital improvements such as road paving."

The Chamber also noted its concern over taxes.

"Most importantly," it said, the city charter allows the council "to levy and collect such other taxes and fees as may be allowed now or in the future by law. This leads one to question what those allowable taxes and fees might be and who would be responsible for paying them."

The chamber said it also is "concerned that the financial burden/impact will create a negative affect for businesses located within Dunwoody." If the economic recession continues or if HOST sales tax revenues decline, it said, the cost of business in the area could increase.

The chamber noted that commercial property owners in the area already pay an additional four mills tax for being in the Perimeter Community Improvement Districts.

"Any shortfall," the Chamber stated, "may come at the expense of business through the paying of higher fees and assessments."

The chamber mentioned a non-financial concern as well, saying, "There exists the question of how the new city will interact with other municipalities in providing solutions to our shared dilemmas."

Research, the chamber said, indicates "that it becomes more difficult to solve regional problems as the number of governmental entities increase. A failure to cooperate regionally is a failure to grow economically."