Members of Atlanta's City Council say they plan to institute tougher oversight of tax allocation districts, which cover about a fifth of the city's land area and are supposed to funnel tax money to future development in blighted or depressed areas.
The city's auditor recommended far more details be included in the financial reports of Invest Atlanta, the economic development agency charged with overseeing the city's 10 tax allocation districts. The agency's leader says he supports those and other recommendations for more intense oversight.
"The audit was very insightful," City Councilwoman Joyce Sheperd said. "We want, as a council, to go through every TAD and look at each TAD. The audit was just the beginning."
A lot of money is at stake. The city has issued $636 million in bonds for five TADs. And since fiscal year 2009, 6 percent of the city's property tax revenue has funded TADs.
A 94-page audit released last month indicated there was not enough oversight of TADs to determine when redevelopment is finished and no longer needs to be subsidized. Some of the districts accumulate millions of dollars in tax money without adequate controls, according to the study.
Furthermore, there is very little to show for the city's investment in some of the smallest TADs. In four TADs in impoverished communities, 90 percent of the recorded expenses were for Invest Atlanta's administrative costs.
Meanwhile, Atlanta Beltline Inc.'s financial controls and spending policies will be examined in a series of meetings coordinated by the City Council's finance and human resources committees, Councilwoman Yolanda Adrean said.
The Beltline is supported by one of the city's largest tax allocation districts. City auditor Leslie Ward said some Beltline expenditures were not prudent. An investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found expenditures at expensive steakhouses and other questionable items.
Brian McGowan, president of Invest Atlanta, said his agency would report to the City Council before the end of the year on how it was complying with the audit's recommendations.
"The time is right to get this right," McGowan said.
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