LAST WEEK: CAN DECATUR PROVIDE QUALITY SCHOOLS WITHOUT HIGH TAXES?
The Decatur school board is voting to ask city commissioners to put an $82.47 million general obligation bond referendum on the ballot in November. If approved the bond would help finance schools’ renovation and new construction for the next several years.
Since the question was posed last week, City Schools Decatur has revised both its timetable for asking commissioners to approve the bond, and its initial figures regarding a tax hike.
The board will present projections for future enrollment, financial needs and current construction plans at a meeting Monday. A second joint session will follow in April with the board hoping commissioners will approve the bond in May.
New figures show the tax hike isn’t as much as originally thought. CSD now says that if the bond is approved the millage rate would increase to 2.98 by 2017, not nearly as high as the initial projection of 4.84. The new figure is partly based on paying the loan off in 25 years instead of the original 20. This means taxes on a $150,000 home would cost $223.24 annually, on a $300,000 home $446.48, on a $500,000 home $744.13 and on a $700,000 home $1,041.79.
These numbers, of course, are not final and could change anytime. They also don’t take potential annexation into consideration, which could lower the millage further.
But even with the revisions, and even in a city like Decatur, where the median household income is about 30 percent higher than the national level, this is no small chunk of change. The effect could be particularly devastating on older residents with a fixed income.
Here’s what readers had to say:
We moved to the City of Decatur for their school system. Our pre-k program at College Heights is incredible; better than anything we would have had to pay for in East Cobb. There was strong opposition to raising property taxes in Fulton County and Cobb County. The result was teacher furloughs and both school systems falling out of the top 10 school system rankings in the metro area. (City of Buford Schools was No. 1 and City of Decatur was No. 2.) It is a known fact that communities that spend more money on education have better property values.
The wealthy are not too concerned about profit or losses on their home value, as it is a relatively small part of their total investment portfolio. For most middle-income families, their biggest investment is their home. Many of the more affluent families send their children to private schools and don’t want to pay for anyone else’s kids public education. They are a small, but loud pool of voters; loud enough to make people who can’t afford to send their kids to private school vote along with them without realizing the disservice they are doing to their own communities and more importantly their own property values.
GA4LIFE
I love Decatur and we spend a lot of time there, but as a childless couple, I’m very glad we didn’t buy a house in Decatur when we moved back to Atlanta nine years ago. We almost did, but it would have been by accident because we didn’t know the taxes were so much higher than our home just across the border in Atlanta/Dekalb. While I understand it’s a good school system and for those with children it’s cheaper than paying for private school, my guess is they will in fact price childless and older couples out of the area.
— Cayce
My family has lived in Decatur since 1998. A proposed tax increase that targets existing city of Decatur home owners is unfair to families who do not have children in the city of Decatur school system. Within a two block radius of my home there are four families who are sending a total of six children to private schools. If residents without children in the public school system are not granted an exemption from the proposed tax increase, then I guarantee long-time residents will start moving outside the city limits and thus reduce the diversity of this community.
— Andrea Young
My family has been in Oakhurst on and off for nearly 100 years now. This tax increase will force me to move. No way I’m paying for lack of planning. The money should come from all of the developers coming in and tearing down houses to build mansions along with the giant apartment complexes being built. I support the city usually but this is crazy and signals a lack of foresight and planning. It’s what happened in the 50s around here.
— atlbrent
I think a tax hike will drive away residents. I have lived nearly all my life in Decatur and have been very active in civic life. However when the opportunity arose in 2014 to move to a house in Tucker, where the taxes were about 39 percent compared to that of my Decatur home (with exemptions), I strongly considered moving. If I were a young person with children in school, I hate to think what my Decatur property taxes would be. In the last twenty years, since my children graduated from DHS, it has seemed as if the city, in general, and the school system, in particular, has been spending our tax dollars flagrantly. At one point I was so frustrated that I paid the fee to run for a seat on the school board. Maybe it is just typical for the younger generation to spend money more loosely.
— Catherine Carter
Bill Banks for the AJC
Spend any time on Scenic Highway in Snellville and you might understand the origins of road rage. The city is working to achieve goals of a Livable Centers Initiative with Towne Center streetscape improvements. Residents stuck in traffic between Sugar Loaf Parkway and Highway 78 may wonder how 5,000 feet of sidewalks on streets surrounding city hall will do anything to improve their commute.
According to Georgia DOT’s most recent traffic count, 48,020 vehicles pass back and forth along Highway 124/Scenic Highway between Ronald Reagan Parkway and Highway 78 every 48 hours. The volume traveling Highway 78 peeks at 54,530 vehicles during the same 48-hour stretch.
Snellville city leaders acknowledge traffic congestion as one of the city’s priorities. In fact, traffic was one topic at a recent visioning meeting to discuss Towne Center plans and general city concerns.
Ideas being tossed around include a continuous flow intersection, or diverging diamond, at Highway 78 and Scenic Highway. Some wonder if a series of trolleys should move visitors between shopping areas.
One area certain to receive attention is a set of four-way traffic stops along Pharrs Road at North and Ridgedale roads. Traffic circles are one option under consideration. But, as with other improvements, these ideas require space that may result in the need for land acquisition — all problems that take not only vision, but time and money.
In the mean time, Snellville plans to work to align existing stoplights along major thoroughfares to improve traffic flow.
What do you think should be done to improve traffic congestion in Snellville? We want to hear from you. Send an email to communitynews@ajc.com.
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