With millions of dollars the city owes Atlanta Public Schools in connection with the Beltline still unpaid, State Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta, says he'll continue to advocate this year for a bill that would require school districts party to similar financial agreements to be repaid first.
For three years, the city of Atlanta and the school district have been at odds over millions of dollars the city owes the schools in connection with the Beltline.
At issue is a 2009 agreement in which the city receives a portion of the school district’s property tax revenue to pay for the Beltline’s network of parks and trails. In exchange, it agreed to make $162 million in a series of fixed annual payments from the Beltline tax allocation district, or TAD, to APS.
But the city hasn’t made all of its payments. City officials say the recession devastated the Beltline’s funding model and making the payments would basically halt the Beltline’s development.
The city has withheld two payments to APS worth a combined $13.5 million. It owed another $7.5 million on Jan. 1. Last month, it paid APS $9.1 million, though questions have emerged about whether Mayor Kasim Reed's administration acted improperly in making that payment without first going to the city council for approval.
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