Revenue or revitalization: Mayor’s legacy project hinges on school board

The fate of Mayor Andre Dickens’ signature legislation aimed at tackling Atlanta’s massive wealth divide now rests largely in the hands of the local school board.

Dickens’ Neighborhood Reinvestment Initiative would extend the life of six of Atlanta’s eight Tax Allocation Districts for the next 30 years to fund infrastructure improvements within each of those areas.

The City Council signed off on the measure in June, but is requiring at least one other local governing body to agree to the extension for the plan to fully move forward.

The Fulton County Commission voted against the TAD extensions last month, leaving the Atlanta Board of Education as the final decider. And school board members aren’t rushing into a decision.

Of the three entities, the school district stands to lose the most: between $2 billion and $4 billion over the next three decades, according to the district’s estimates.

School board members appear to be biding their time, saying in interviews and public forums that it’s imperative they make the right decision.

“We have not determined our voting timeline. There’s a number of factors that will play into that,” said School Board Chair Jessica Johnson, noting the board hasn’t yet seen the city’s list of projects that would be funded with the revenue.

The school board has appointed a nine-member advisory committee that will make recommendations before a final vote. Each school board member appointed one person to the committee, which is comprised of parents, teachers and community members. The group has met twice so far and will meet again Thursday.

The recommendations will come in November, Johnson said. But the school board won’t vote immediately, and will “need some time to process” afterward, she said.

It’s unclear when that vote will happen.

Dickens’ administration hopes to issue bonds quickly so they can start investing money in Atlanta’s historically underserved neighborhoods. TAD funding has been used to build affordable housing, create parks and even open grocery stores in food deserts. City leaders also hope to leverage TAD funding to build a new hospital on Atlanta’s medically underserved Southside.

But Fulton County Commissioners opted out last month, saying they need the property tax revenue for huge investments of their own, jail improvements and a hospital among them.

Board Vice Chair Ken Zeff listens during an Atlanta Public School board meeting in Atlanta on Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (Abbey Cutrer/AJC)

Now the plan hinges on the school board, which also sees the diversion of billions in tax revenue as a high-stakes gamble.

“This is a big commitment. We’re binding future boards, future superintendents and future students,” said Ken Zeff, the school board’s vice chair, who expressed support for the idea of investing in underserved neighborhoods. “This is money earmarked for students, and we just have to be really thoughtful about how we allocate that.

“It’s just a question of financing it, and where the money should come from.”

Money trouble

Although APS balanced its budget this year, officials have expressed concern about the district’s long-term finances.

Declining enrollment and shrinking revenue led officials to approve several school closures in December. At the same time, the district’s strategic plan includes providing pre-kindergarten for every 3- and 4-year-old in the school district by 2030, which will carry a hefty price tag.

In addition, about 80% of the school district’s budget comes from property taxes. APS officials say one advantage of participating in a TAD is that the district benefits from the financial windfall of surging property values once the agreement ends.

“So when (TADs) are extended, that promise goes unfulfilled,” said former APS Chief Financial Officer Lisa Bracken, who worked for the district for more than a decade.

Some board members have also pointed to aspects of previous TAD agreements that were not honored. For example, the original intergovernmental agreement promised incentives like free MARTA passes for APS students and affordable housing for teachers. That did not happen, the board said.

“If we make agreements with (city officials) moving forward, how do we know that these things are going to be seen through?” asked board member Alfred “Shivy” Brooks during a budget meeting last year.

One agreement often struck in development deals is called Payment In Lieu of Taxes, which in this case would require the city to make payments to the school district for a portion of the lost tax revenue. Johnson seemed open to that idea.

“We would need some guarantees, and it feels like probably PILOT payments would be the surest way to go going forward,” she said.

Risk vs. reward

Dickens, a Mays High School graduate, was elected mayor in 2021 on campaign promises to add more affordable housing in the city that raised him. Gentrification and limited housing for working-class Atlantans have been long-term issues in the city, and Dickens argues his neighborhood plan can help address those challenges.

Asked about the negotiations during a recent visit to an Atlanta elementary school, Dickens said the city is engaged in what he said were ongoing, “respectful conversations” with the district about his plan.

Courtney English, the mayor’s chief of staff, has taken a prominent role as salesman for the proposal. He called it the most important conversation facing the city since integration.

Atlanta chief of staff and Chief Policy Officer Courtney English speaks during press conference to unveil Mayor Andre Dickens’ Neighborhood Reinvestment Initiative in the atrium at Atlanta City Hall, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, in Atlanta. (Jason Getz/AJC)

“Every single facet of our lives has been shaped by policies that were designed to separate people based on race and class,” said English, who previously chaired Atlanta’s school board. “We are living through the negative impacts of malicious policy decisions that were made over 100 years ago.”

English said if Atlanta wants its schools to succeed, it needs its neighborhoods to thrive and vice versa.

“We’re just trying to overcome generations of challenges,” the mayor said in May.

Critics argue that money could be put to better use in the city’s general fund, so there are no geographic restrictions dictating where it can be spent. Matt Westmoreland, an Atlanta City Council member who previously served on the school board, said the council’s legislation extending the TADs was one of the toughest things he’s ever worked on.

“The neighborhood a child grows up in, their physical and social environments all play huge roles in a student’s education and overall life outcomes,” said Westmoreland, a former teacher.

Before approving the plan in June, Council members made several amendments to Dickens’ proposal. In addition to requiring a partner, the council must ultimately sign off on future project lists, along with the redevelopment plans inside each of the taxing districts. Those lists are expected to be presented next spring.

The tweaks were made after a city audit found Atlanta’s previous redevelopment plans lacked clear, measurable goals, making it difficult to tell whether the tax districts had been successful in a specific area.

Signs from different areas of Atlanta neighborhoods are shown during a press conference to unveil Mayor Andre Dickens’ Neighborhood Reinvestment Initiative in the atrium at Atlanta City Hall, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, in Atlanta. (Jason Getz/AJC)

Invest Atlanta, the city’s economic development arm, has committed to creating new plans with more specific metrics, including a school system analysis for each of the districts.

Eloisa Klementich, Invest Atlanta’s president and CEO, said the changes are aimed at helping families living in the parts of the city that need it most.

“We’re grateful for APS’s existing partnership here and look forward to working together to maximize the TADs’ impact in reducing family poverty, stabilizing neighborhoods and improving student outcomes,” she said.