A bipartisan effort is under way in the state Legislature to amend the state Constitution to allow cities and counties to tap school tax funds for redevelopment projects.

A resolution calling for a statewide referendum on the matter was introduced last week in both chambers. It will take a two-thirds vote of the House and Senate for the resolution to get on the ballot.

The move comes on the heels of a state Supreme Court ruling prohibiting school property taxes from being used to help pay for projects like Atlanta's Beltline loop of trails, transit and parks. Dozens of similar community redevelopment projects across the state that were counting on the availability of school property tax funds are now suddenly in jeopardy.

The amendment would salvage a popular financing mechanism known as tax allocation districts, or TADs, which are used to spur development in a specific area, such as a run-down part of town.

Cities and counties like TADs because they don't require a tax increase. Instead, TADs tap into future increases in property taxes that are generated by the redevelopment.

But schools account for the bulk of the property taxes in most jurisdictions. The court's decision effectively cut in half the amount of tax dollars available for TAD projects.

—- Paul Donsky

Tree-planting in Midtown

The Midtown Alliance will hold a tree-planting ceremony 2:30-3:30 p.m. Thursday to mark the installation of 30 trees, each 20 feet high.

The overcup oak trees are going in the 15th Street piazza and are part of the Peachtree Street improvements funded by the Midtown Improvement District and the Woodruff Foundation. The trees are 8 feet to 9 feet in diameter and were grown in Athens. The ceremony will take place at the piazza next to the First Church of Christ Scientist, 1235 Peachtree St.

For more information, e-mail Debra@midtownalliance.org or call 404-892-4782.

—- Kevin Duffy

More space for mall sought

A planned shopping center in Dawson County near the outlet malls along Ga. 400 might get bigger. Dawson Marketplace is to open in March 2009.

The Sembler Co. has asked to build an additional 134,416 square feet of space to a mall it now has on the drawing board. The current plans envision a mall that's already been approved at 963,000 square feet, according to papers filed with the state Department of Community Affairs.

As Sembler's mall is now envisioned, it would contain about 1.1 million square feet of retail space. The planned mall would be almost as big as Lenox Square, which has nearly 1.6 million square feet of retail space.

Sembler's plan for the additional space at its site in Dawson County calls for rezoning an additional 10 acres for 74,560 square feet of retail. Almost 60,000 square feet of additional retail space would be spread across the site that's already been rezoned for the mall.

—- David Pendered