The latest push to create a city out of unincorporated DeKalb County limped out of the gate Wednesday, when only a dozen people showed up for the first meeting of the state Senate committee studying the issue.
Only two audience members were residents. They were outnumbered by representatives from the state’s county and city associations, a county lobbyist and the media, and both said they were confused about why the issue had come up.
“We’re just interested in hearing what everybody is thinking, because we are in a county that’s in a state of change,” said one woman, a resident of central DeKalb who declined to give her name over concerns that she didn’t know enough about the topic.
She is not alone. The last time county officials floated the idea was in 2006, when then-CEO Vernon Jones proposed creating a city that could capture $30 million in utility fees that counties cannot claim.
That idea went nowhere, and several county officials contacted this week said they didn’t support reviving it.
Most want the committee instead to look at ways DeKalb and its cities can create a joint plan that stops the county from losing revenue to city annexations or incorporations but leaves both options on the table. Creating a city of DeKalb would halt both.
“The last time, a city of DeKalb was seen as a revenue generator,” said Commissioner Kathie Gannon. “Now, we need to look from a different perspective, about how we manage some semblance of stability for all of DeKalb for years to come.”
County finances are a key in the discussion. Even with the formation of Brookhaven this year, only about 125,000 of DeKalb’s 700,000 residents live in cities. The county is responsible for services such as police, libraries and parks for most residents.
But Brookhaven and an expected annexation by Chamblee will take a combined $40 million out of county coffers for the 2013 budget.
The hit comes after several years of service cuts and leaves county officials wondering how to make ends meet.
State Sen. Gloria Butler, D-Stone Mountain, said she requested the study committee to address that issue, not necessarily to recommend a city of DeKalb. Last year she declined to support a House bill that called for a city to be fashioned out of the county, saying then as now that she needed more facts.
“As other areas of the county are siphoned off, I think it leaves DeKalb County in dire straits,” Butler said. “Hopefully we’ll find answers as we go along.”
The committee meets next at 10 a.m. Oct. 31 at the state Capitol, when representatives from the University Georgia are scheduled to make a presentation about DeKalb’s demographics.
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