Jaime Sarrio

Local news reporter

Jaime Sarrio is a local news reporter covering Cobb County. She started at the AJC in 2010 and has worked as an education reporter for almost 10 years. She grew up in Gwinnett County and is a graduate of the University of Georgia with a degree in journalism.

Latest from Jaime Sarrio

Cobb budget to increase slightly in 2014

Cobb County will dole out raises of up to 3 percent and add five new positions while slightly decreasing property taxes, according to a draft of the 2014 budget released Tuesday. Georgia’s third-largest county released its $745 million budget plans for the upcoming fiscal year, showing an overall increase of ...

Residents upset by vote for recycling center

A series of errors by the city of Smyrna led to the approval of a new recycling center in an unpublicized location, a decision that has angered nearby residents who don’t want the facility in their backyard.Last month, the city council agreed to spend $435,000 for the new recycling facility, ...

New car tax a boon for metro counties

The state’s new car tax law is a boon so far for some metro Atlanta counties, which are collecting millions in new tax revenue each month. For car buyers, it can be a boon or a bust. Some could pay more and are surprised by the reconfigured tax, designed as ...

Cobb’s SPLOST collections outpace estimates

Penny sales tax collections in Cobb County are coming in much higher than predicted, putting the suburban county on track to collect upward of $15.2 million in unplanned revenue if the pace continues. The trend is significant because it serves as another sign of the improved economic situation in Cobb. ...

Smyrna Elementary School cost about $19.7 million. The campus used to be the site of a city-owned apartment complex, which cost taxpayers millions. JOHNNY CRAWFORD / JCRAWFORD@AJC.COM

Smyrna loses millions on apartment complex deal

A series of puzzling real estate investments that were supposed to assist redevelopment in the city of Smyrna wound up costing taxpayers almost $7 million, according to documents reviewed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.In 2008, amid the collapse of the real estate market, the Cobb County city decided to spend millions ...

In shadow of failed T-SPLOST, Cobb seeks new way forward on transportation

In the shadow of last year’s failed transportation sales tax referendum, Cobb County is trying a new approach to determine the future transit needs of the state’s third-largest county: asking taxpayers to help make the list. Like other metro counties, Cobb is trying to figure out which transportation projects are ...

Cobb plans to slightly lower tax rates

Cobb County taxpayers could see a slight reduction on their 2013 tax bills if county commissioners this month approve a planned decrease in the millage rate. Commissioners are expected July 23 to approve a 0.2-mill decrease, which works out to a savings of about $14 on a $200,000 home or ...

The site of the 48-acre former Hickory Lakes Apartments off Windy Hill Road in Smyrna still sits empty. The city of Smyrna used bonds to buy the old apartment complex in 2011 to be demolished and the site resold to developers. The land is still up for sale, and taxpayers will be on the hook for the bill. PHIL SKINNER / PSKINNER@AJC.COM

Bond-backed projects offer no guarantees

In Smyrna, it’s an empty 48-acre tract of land that once was an apartment complex. In Clayton County, it’s a vacant slice of a 155-acre site that was supposed to house a hotel and conference center. From one end of metro Atlanta to another, there are examples of governments using ...

Cobb considers new rules for pawn shops

Proposed new rules for pawn shop owners in Cobb County would require a digital fingerprint and photograph of every customer be uploaded to an online database searchable by police nationwide.The county already requires pawn shops to record a written description of any item and customer and take an ink fingerprint ...

Cobb EMC to cut 10 to 20 percent of workforce

Cobb Electric Membership Corp. announced Wednesday it will shed 10 percent to 20 percent of its workforce to address overstaffing. The utility plans to cut 55 to 110 jobs, first through voluntary buyouts and then layoffs if necessary. The cuts come after months of an operational review, which found certain ...