To TAD or not to TAD: Council considers Dickens’ $5 billion development plan
Atlanta City Council members on Monday considered legislation to extend the life of eight tax allocation districts, as Mayor Andre Dickens pushes for approval of the immensely ambitious $5 billion plan for development of transit, housing and infrastructure.
The mayor’s chief of staff, Courtney English, is leading Dickens’ Neighborhood Reinvestment Initiative and backing legislation by Council member Michael Julian Bond that would extend the sunset dates for eight TADs to 2055.
At a Community Development and Human Services Committee meeting on Monday, English said action is needed to address inequality in south and west Atlanta neighborhoods that have been left behind while the north and east parts of the city have thrived.
“The harsh truth … Atlanta is a tale of two cities. We are a city divided by access to opportunity, health, education and wealth. Outcomes are still mapped along the historic lines of segregation,” English said.
The TADs would continue to freeze the property tax base in the eight districts and funnel all new revenue above that base into redevelopment funds. In effect, about 15% of the city’s property tax base would remain in the districts rather than going to the city’s general fund.
While Council members on the committee were supportive of the TADs in principle, Liliana Bakhtiari questioned whether extending them would tie the hands of future administrations.
There are eight active TADs, including Westside, Perry-Bolton, Eastside, Atlanta Beltline, Campbellton Road, Hollowell–Martin Luther King Jr., Metropolitan Parkway and Stadium Area.
Bakhtiari asked English if it was possible to create new TADs before 2055. English said not “without closing significant TADs that are already in existence.”
“My fear ... is that we’re limiting decisions future administrations can make,” Bakhtiari said.
During the hearing, District 3 Council member Byron Amos was also supportive but noted there had been mixed results from TADs in the past.
“It is no secret that District 3 and the Westside have been the biggest winner when it comes to TAD conversations. We’ve also been the biggest losers as well,” Amos said.
“Just to hear you and your team acknowledging that coming in gives me great hope, because we can see what we did wrong and get it right this time around.”
Bakhtiari added that there is a city audit of the existing TADs due in June 2026, and that she would like the auditor’s input as debate on the legislation continues.
“Accountability is a form of love. That’s why I ask questions. It’s not because I don’t believe in this. I deeply do,” Bakhtiari said. “I don’t feel we are ready yet.”
After public comment and discussion, the Community Development and Human Services Committee held the legislation without a vote, for further discussion.
Much of the public comment and discussion centered on affordable housing. English argued that the scale of the task must be measured in billions, not millions, of dollars.
“Twenty thousand units of affordable housing alone comes with a price tag of $6 billion,” English said.
He said TADs were the “most effective mechanism” to build more housing, noting that some housing advocates had suggested the mayor should double or even triple the city’s goal of 20,000 units by 2030.
“You will get no argument from this administration. But simply put, that just means we need $12 billion or $24 billion, either from government or from public subsidy, to bring that kind of change into reality.”
City Council approval is just the first step. Dickens wants Atlanta Public Schools and Fulton County to sign on too, and persuading them will likely present a steeper challenge.
In October, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that a nonbinding project list earmarked $2.3 billion for transit, $1.4 billion for parks and trails, $1.2 billion for housing, $265 million for health initiatives, $219 million for public space and infrastructure, $77 million for commercial projects and $20 million for education.
During public comment, Neighborhood Planning Unit D Chair Jim Martin argued against extending the TADs, saying they should be allowed to expire so revenue can return to the city’s general fund and Atlanta Public Schools.
“This is not a proposal to keep promises made to the people of Atlanta. It is a proposal to break many of those promises,” Martin said. “TADs are, by design, a cause of gentrification, not a solution to it.”
But developers said TADs had helped them unlock funding for affordable housing developments, including Stryant Investments co-founder and developer Stan Sugarman.
He said Beltline TAD dollars had helped revamp the former Atlanta Motel on Moreland Avenue and turn it into the Ralph David House, which offers permanent supportive housing for homeless people.
“The difference for us in terms of speed to market and everything else is just tremendous,” Sugarman said. “The layers of financing that the Beltline TAD allows us to avoid allow us to deliver these projects so much sooner.”
About the Author
Matt Reynolds is a housing reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's local government team.
