Decatur’s DeKalb Tax Set to Rise Over 7% Based on Proposed Millage Increase
Decatur Metro | June 27, 2011DeKalb County Commisser Jeff Rader’s afternoon announcement that the County will host three public hearings (Tuesday, July 5 at 10 a.m. & 6 p.m., and on Tuesday, July 12 at 10 a.m.) on the proposed 4.5 mill tax increase includes a nifty breakdown on what that will mean for the different DeKalb municipalities. Here ’tis…
2011 Rollback Rate % Increase
Atlanta 10.39 8.938 16.25%
Avondale Estates 15.41 13.464 14.45%
Chamblee 13.71 12.223 12.17%
Clarkston 15.06 13.242 13.73%
Decatur 10.82 10.087 7.27%
Doraville 13.60 12.607 7.88%
Dunwoody 13.35 11.357 17.55%
Lithonia 15.33 13.280 15.44%
Pine Lake 15.61 13.541 15.28%
Stone Mountain 13.90 12.980 7.09%
Unincorporated 19.62 18.017 8.90%
Countywide Debt 1.08 0.647 66.92%
Unincorporated Debt 0.66 1.631 -59.53%
Sickening. Your home equity may be a thing of the past, your 401(k) may be a 201(k), but rest assured, the employees of the DeKalb County Jobs Program — er, government — will have fully-funded, defined benefit pensions at your expense. Makes us all sleep easier, I am sure.
By the way, unless I have lost count, this is the third year in a row that Ellis has recommended a tax increase. The initial reluctance of the commission to go along with double digit percentage increases in the teeth of a severe recession seems to be waning now. Does anyone believe the County has cut expenses to the extent possible and is anywhere near efficient? Has the County even responded to that Ga State study saying the government was rife with inefficiency? Out of sight, out of mind, I guess. Or call it the bait and switch, with commissioners like Rader feigning concern for efficiency then just caving to Ellis’ demands for ever-rising taxes.
So where does this end? We all know that housing values are still going down in most places. Once these 4.5 mills are spent, vanished down the rat hole of employee benefit bloat, will they be back for more next year? Probably. Because, as I’ve said, the employees of this county do not work for you. You work to pay them.
well said.