Atlanta mayor says property tax hike 'will happen'

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens boasted a small property tax cut for residents this past budget cycle, despite a projected $33 million deficit that required departments to cut at least 5% — including employee layoffs and leaving positions unfilled.

But last week the mayor, who is seeking reelection, said a property tax hike is almost unavoidable, as Atlanta’s leaders work to keep up with population growth that brings increased demand for city services.

Our friends at the Saporta Report wrote that Dickens told members of the Atlanta Committee for Progress at the organization’s quarterly board meeting Friday that the city will likely need to approve a higher property tax in the next few years.

“I can’t see a scenario where four more years go by without a millage rate increase of some portion,” Dickens is quoted as saying in the Saporta Report.

The city hasn’t seen a property tax increase since 2009 under Mayor Shirley Franklin’s administration, when residents saw a 3-mill increase.

“I don’t know if it’s this year or next year, but within four years, it will happen,” Dickens said, according to the Saporta Report. “For last year’s budget, we said no to a millage rate increase. … We haven’t charged more for the services, and we have done magical work with budgets.”

His statements come after a tumultuous budget cycle that ended with a request from Atlanta City Council members for more oversight into city spending.

From April 2023 to April 2024, the 11-county metro area added 62,000 residents, according to estimates from the Atlanta Regional Commission. The organization also expects the 21-county metro Atlanta area to grow to 7.9 million people by 2050.

They’re startling numbers for city officials who are struggling to find the best way to keep up with growth without burdening legacy residents. Compounding that is uncertainty around the level of federal funding coming to cities out of the Trump White House.

Dickens said in March the city is also considering a stormwater utility fee to generate revenue for the billion-dollar improvements needed to the Atlanta water system.

During his administration, the mayor has encouraged the entire metro region to work closer to address the area’s problems, like traffic, housing, homelessness and effects of climate change — issues he says don’t stop at county lines.

Dickens is the first Atlanta mayor to serve as chairman of the Atlanta Regional Commission board. At a mass gathering of local elected officials last week, he implored those in attendance to work together.

“Collaboration isn’t just a nice to have, it is a must have for these challenge that we’re facing,” he said.

Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC

Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC

What a progressive Democrat’s win in New York means for Atlanta

Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani shocked the country when he won the Democratic primary in the race to become New York City’s next mayor.

Political pundits are calling the 33-year-old’s win a turning point for the party as a whole, as younger, more progressive residents are turning out to the polls and pushing back against the party establishment.

For progressive Democrats in Atlanta who have struggled to gain footing in city races, Mamdani’s win offers new hope.

Devin Barrington-Ward, who recently lost a bid to fill the vacant at-large seat on the City Council, told the AJC the recent New York upset is sparking questions in the South about how to successfully organize around a more progressive Democratic candidate.

“I think it’s an opportunity to have a conversation around what does Zoran’s victory have implications for progressive organizing in Atlanta?” he said.

Although Atlanta’s mayor is a Democrat, many point to his pushback against the public safety training center referendum effort and bitter feud with the Office of Inspector General as evidence of his more moderate position on critical issues.

In the upcoming city elections, progressives see an opportunity to gain political power in Rohit Malhotra, an Atlanta nonprofit leader, who is running against longtime Council member Marci Collier Overstreet for the coveted council president position.

Got tips, tricks or just want to say hello? Email me at riley.bunch@ajc.com.