DeKalb County’s economic development agency gave tax breaks to two businesses without informing the city of Brookhaven, which will contribute to the tax incentives, said Brookhaven Mayor Rebecca Chase Williams.
The mayor said the city should have been told about the tax discounts, which are worth $6.3 million for Seven Oaks Company to build an office tower at Perimeter Summit and $1.1 million for Source One Direct to expand its credit card customization facilities.
"We are disappointed that we were not made aware of the Authority's intentions," Chase Williams said in a statement. "We are in the process of gathering the facts."
Decide DeKalb Development Authority President Ray Gilley said Tuesday he will improve communications to ensure that all governments involved are well informed. The tax incentives approved Oct. 8 affect DeKalb County, DeKalb public schools and the city of Brookhaven.
“We’ll talk to them to understand their concerns and how we can better work together,” he said. “We need to help everyone understand that these investments are strategically important for the county.”
Brookhaven’s contributions to the incentives amount to $426,000 over the next 15 years for the Perimeter Summit project and nearly $77,000 for the Source One expansion, according to an analysis conducted for the authority.
Development authorities can impart a property tax break through so-called lease-purchase agreements.
They’re one of Georgia’s most powerful economic development incentives, and the tax breaks have been used as part of incentive packages for companies like Mercedes-Benz USA and the future Midtown headquarters of financial technology company NCR.
But the incentives also have been doled out by local development authorities for projects such as speculative office towers and even luxury apartments.
In essence, the authorities issue bonds and take possession of the project with a developer or anchor tenant as a lessee. As part of the structure, the developer gets a break on property taxes.
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