Delta and Hapeville need to work on their lopsided symbiotic relationship
You’ve probably seen the commercials or billboards. Or maybe you have even caught a Delta flight in the past few months.
Delta Air Lines is currently celebrating its centennial. That’s right; the airline has been in business for 100 years and has grown to be the world’s biggest airline with its home base at the world’s busiest airport. That makes me proud!
As a loyal Delta customer whose home is within walking distance to its headquarters, I love having Delta in town.
Today, Delta has the opportunity of a decade — to directly support its workers and the residents in its backyard, Hapeville, Georgia.
Hapeville is a small city that punches above its weight
Hapeville is a small city; one that many who live in metro Atlanta maybe haven’t even heard of. However, it is a city that everyone has driven past, and in many respects punches above it weight.
Delta Air Lines is here. The original Chick-fil-A is here. And Porsche’s North American headquarters is here. We are nestled in between the City of Atlanta and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, and we are 7,000 strong in population.
Our city is unique in that we have our own police and fire departments despite being so small geographically. That being said, our city services must be funded. Hapeville’s annual budget is just under $20 million dollars, which may sound high, but pales in comparison to Atlanta’s $3 billion-dollar annual budget.
Tax exemption puts city at a disadvantage
Like all cities, Hapeville’s budget is funded by taxes — primarily property, sales and excise tax revenue. Hapeville has had no choice in recent years but to raise its millage rate on local property owners in order to maintain a balanced budget.
The reason that the city had no other choice was due to the hotel-motel tax exemption in the State of Georgia’s Code Section 48-13-51. This exemption allows for entities to not pay hotel-motel taxes after the first 30 days of continuous occupancy. In the case of the City of Hapeville and Delta Air Lines, Delta doesn’t pay taxes for its use of hundreds of hotel rooms in Hapeville to temporarily house its employees by its headquarters.
This exemption allows Delta to flourish while the residents of Hapeville count their pennies to make ends meet. The forgone tax revenue for Hapeville amounts to well over $1 million annually.
Delta should help reform law for Hapevillians
According to the airline, Delta generated nearly $2 billion dollars in profit, not revenue, in the June 2025 quarter. That’s right, this year Delta boasts 100 years in operation with record profits while us Hapevillians are struggling to make it by. I write this with the understanding that city governments and corporations are inherently distinct.
Corporations exist to generate profit for its shareholders while city governments exist to provide services to its citizens. I do not expect Delta to cease its innovative practices in order to increase its profit, nor should it. I write this to publicly ask Delta to give us a break in Hapeville.
Our city feeds and houses hundreds of Delta employees every day. Hartsfield is not going anywhere; nor is Delta.
Whether Delta forgoes its hotel-motel tax exemption in Hapeville, joins our city leaders in advocating for changing the state law or supplements the lost revenue through its charitable giving, I urge Delta to celebrate its 100 years and record profits by supporting the city that it cannot operate without.
Delta — let’s move forward and connect the world in a truly symbiotic way.
Chase Stell is a candidate for Hapeville City Council, Ward 2. He is one of two candidates on the ballot in the Nov. 4 municipal and statewide election.
