The Georgia Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the city of College Park can begin taxing businesses that operate in areas of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport that fall within College Park’s city limits.
The 6-1 decision upheld an earlier ruling by the Georgia Court of Appeals, ending a lengthy dispute between behemoth Atlanta and its smaller south Fulton sister.
Lawyers for Atlanta argued that the city qualified as a “local authority,” meaning it was not obligated to pay occupation taxes to College Park and could not be taxed by a local government.
But in Thursday’s ruling, the Supreme Court found otherwise.
Sonji Jacobs Dade, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed’s communications director, said the city is reviewing the court’s ruling and “evaluating its options going forward.”
College Park has already started moving forward.
“We are pleased with the results and we are not surprised,” said Steven Fincher, College Park’s general counsel. “We believed our positions were correct from the beginning.”
At stake are the millions of dollars in occupational tax dollars that Atlanta used to collect and will now go to College Park, though exact totals are yet to be determined.
Hartsfield-Jackson is owned and operated by the city of Atlanta, but significant parts of the sprawling facility, including the main terminal, taxi stands, rental car counters, parking facilities, Concourse A, Concourse T and a portion of Concourse B are in College Park.
Fincher said while there are more than 100 businesses within the city boundaries, it is still too soon to determine how much tax money College Park stands to collect. Not only will the city start collecting the fees, but will also seek to collect back taxes.
Fincher said College Park started notifying businesses at least six years ago of the possibility of paying back taxes, which they should be able to recoup from Atlanta.
“All of that had been on hold, pending the resolution of this case,” Fincher said. “This is likely to be very significant financial benefit for the city of College Park.”
In 2007, College Park officials determined that a 1969 agreement between the two cities — Atlanta could collect and keep occupational taxes from businesses operating in those portions of the airport — was invalid.
When College Park informed Atlanta that College Park would now start collecting the taxes from the businesses, Atlanta sued in Fulton County Superior Court to force College Park to honor the agreement.
The Court of Appeals subsequently ruled that College Park could impose an occupation tax on the city of Atlanta for its business operations within College Park because Atlanta was not a “local authority.”
Thursday’s ruling resolved Atlanta’s appeal to the Supreme Court.
“The law was clear all along that these are fees that College Park should have been getting all along,” said College Park Mayor Jack Longino. “I hate it for Atlanta, but I am happy for us. I know how it is when your budget takes a hit like this.”
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