Fulton County Taxpayers Association plans to sue Atlanta over the proposed Beltline project, arguing the development is in violation of the Georgia Constitution.
The proposed Beltline is a 22-mile loop of abandoned and underused rail lines in the city's urban core, circling the inner-city from Peachtree Hills in the north, to Virginia-Highland in the east, to the Atlanta University Center in the west and to Capitol View Manor in the south. In a July newsletter to FCTA members, FCTA President John Sherman has asked members to give to the organization's legal fund so it can press forward with the suit to stop the Beltline.
The FCTA's chief complaint is the Beltline's establishment as a tax allocation district (TAD), which by state law is an entity designed to stimulate the development of environmentally-degraded, poor or blighted areas of Georgia's cities. The TAD is a financing tool, in which tax-free bonds -- maturing in 25 to 30 years -- are issued to pay for land, infrastructure and specific capital improvements in the designated TAD area. During the term of the bonds, the TAD property taxes do not go toward paying for city, county or schools services, Sherman said. During the term of the bonds, the cost of Atlanta services such as fire, police and parks, and the cost of the Fulton County services such as libraries, health services and courts are borne by non TAD taxpayers throughout Atlanta and Fulton.
The FCTA argues it is unfair and illegal for non-TAD taxpayers to pay for city, county or schools services to support the luxury condominiums and class-A office buildings and shopping centers proposed for the Beltline.
Sherman notes in the newsletter Atlanta is ranked among ''the 10 highest tax-burdened cities in America,'' the Atlanta Board of Education has just raised its tax millage by 10 percent to a 22.6 mills and Fulton has one of the highest millage rates among the 159 counties in Georgia.
''The proposed Beltline is the largest TAD in the history of our state,'' Sherman said. '' Over the next 25 years, according to the Atlanta Beltline Feasibility Study, the Beltline TAD is estimated to support the development upwards of $1.7 billion in assessed taxable property or, approximately, $4 billion in market value.''
Atlanta currently has five TADs, with a total assessed taxable property value of $995 million, with the Beltline TAD approximating $1.7 billion, Sherman said. Under Georgia law, the total amount of taxes allocated to TADs in Atlanta cannot exceed 10 percent of the ''current taxable value of all property in the city.''
Sherman said the only reason the Beltline TAD has not exceeded the cap is that the General Assembly in the last session changed the Redevelopment Powers Act to retroactively approve Atlanta's methodology of only using real property, not including personal and utility property in calculating the taxable value of the TADs.
Sherman claims an Atlanta official who wants to remain anonymous said ''the figures used to calculate the amount of taxes within the Beltline TAD have not been released, but the mayor [Shirley Franklin] is planning to request the 2007 State Legislature to increase the limit to 15 percent of the tax digest.''
By Web Coordinator
The proposed Beltline is a 22-mile loop of abandoned and underused rail lines in the city's urban core, circling the inner-city from Peachtree Hills in the north, to Virginia-Highland in the east, to the Atlanta University Center in the west and to Capitol View Manor in the south. In a July newsletter to FCTA members, FCTA President John Sherman has asked members to give to the organization's legal fund so it can press forward with the suit to stop the Beltline.
The FCTA's chief complaint is the Beltline's establishment as a tax allocation district (TAD), which by state law is an entity designed to stimulate the development of environmentally-degraded, poor or blighted areas of Georgia's cities. The TAD is a financing tool, in which tax-free bonds -- maturing in 25 to 30 years -- are issued to pay for land, infrastructure and specific capital improvements in the designated TAD area. During the term of the bonds, the TAD property taxes do not go toward paying for city, county or schools services, Sherman said. During the term of the bonds, the cost of Atlanta services such as fire, police and parks, and the cost of the Fulton County services such as libraries, health services and courts are borne by non TAD taxpayers throughout Atlanta and Fulton.
The FCTA argues it is unfair and illegal for non-TAD taxpayers to pay for city, county or schools services to support the luxury condominiums and class-A office buildings and shopping centers proposed for the Beltline.
Sherman notes in the newsletter Atlanta is ranked among ''the 10 highest tax-burdened cities in America,'' the Atlanta Board of Education has just raised its tax millage by 10 percent to a 22.6 mills and Fulton has one of the highest millage rates among the 159 counties in Georgia.
''The proposed Beltline is the largest TAD in the history of our state,'' Sherman said. '' Over the next 25 years, according to the Atlanta Beltline Feasibility Study, the Beltline TAD is estimated to support the development upwards of $1.7 billion in assessed taxable property or, approximately, $4 billion in market value.''
Atlanta currently has five TADs, with a total assessed taxable property value of $995 million, with the Beltline TAD approximating $1.7 billion, Sherman said. Under Georgia law, the total amount of taxes allocated to TADs in Atlanta cannot exceed 10 percent of the ''current taxable value of all property in the city.''
Sherman said the only reason the Beltline TAD has not exceeded the cap is that the General Assembly in the last session changed the Redevelopment Powers Act to retroactively approve Atlanta's methodology of only using real property, not including personal and utility property in calculating the taxable value of the TADs.
Sherman claims an Atlanta official who wants to remain anonymous said ''the figures used to calculate the amount of taxes within the Beltline TAD have not been released, but the mayor [Shirley Franklin] is planning to request the 2007 State Legislature to increase the limit to 15 percent of the tax digest.''
By Web Coordinator
