A surplus in DeKalb County's police fund appears to explain part of why taxes went up for residents in the county's cities, though leaders of some cities have asked for additional meetings to understand how the county taxes those people.
The 2012 tax bills show that residents in many of the county's cities are paying more for county services than those in unincorporated areas.
In a meeting Tuesday, DeKalb Financial Officer Joel Gottlieb said that the county used the police surplus to cut the rate that residents in the unincorporated areas and small cities pay for police. That cut then offset the general tax rate, which went up for everyone.
The various adjustments, though, kept the overall tax rate steady in unincorporated DeKalb. The rate in cities ranged from staying the same to increasing by 15 percent.
City leaders, meanwhile, remain skeptical that spending the police surplus didn't artificially inflate city residents' tax bills. They also are concerned that some police costs, such as payroll or human resources, remain in the general costs.
The city-county dispute over tax dollars has erupted in Fulton and Gwinnett counties, generally over how much city residents pay for county-provided services such as police and parks. DeKalb and its cities have had a more amicable relationship, having agreed in 2010 that cities could opt to buy those services a la carte.
DeKalb is slated to begin its 2013 budget process later this week. That process will include more discussions with cities, though no meeting dates have been set.
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