Commuters working in Alpharetta can double the city’s population during workdays, making its mayor eager to represent not just residents, but workers who live elsewhere.
Mayor Jim Gilvin, during his annual State of the City address Wednesday at Hotel Avalon, estimated Alpharetta’s population at nearly 67,000. “During the day there is an influx of 60,000 people,” he said. “A normal city of 67,000 in population only has to address public safety and the business needs of the ones who live there. Alpharetta is charged with making sure we serve those 127,000 every day.”
The influx of commuting workers also makes the city No. 1 among all North Fulton cities and Atlanta for the amount of taxes collected per city resident. Alpharetta’s tax per capita is $98,547, followed by the city of Atlanta at about $77,380. Tax per capita is the total amount of residential and commercial property taxes collected, divided by the resident population. With so much tax generated by business, Alpharetta can keep residential property lower than most cities its size.
Gilvin emphasized the importance of ensuring that such corporations as Jackson Healthcare, Hewlett Packard Mega Consolidated Data Center, Fiserv and others that employ thousands remain in Alpharetta. The city competes with other municipalities for such businesses, not just locally but globally, he noted.
“It’s tough out there,” he said “There are thinner margins than ever before. We are able to better serve their needs and understand what it will take to keep them here. They are making decisions every day that will affect thousands of our residents.”
To the Mayor’s point, Thyssenkrupp Elevator Company, which has offices in Alpharetta, is building its new North American headquarters in the Battery near SunTrust Park in Cobb County.
“[Alpharetta] has to provide an environment where people want to come here from all of the world, not just to do business but to raise their families,” Gilvin added.
Last September, the Alpharetta City Council approved issuing $2.5 million in bonds for a new community center in partnership with the Ed Isakson/Alpharetta Family YMCA. And plans have been initiated for the $10 million project that will connect the Alpharetta Greenway with Forsyth’s Greenway at Union Hill and Mc Ginnis Ferry Roads.
“We are spending money on parks all over the city,” he said.
