Turnout Won't Be the Only Reason for Long Voting Lines in DeKalb
Decatur Metro | September 21, 2008Take a gander of this sample ballot for the November 4th elections.
Five pages long! Along with McCain/Obama and Chambliss/Martin, there are enough elected official positions up for grabs to fill an entire four pages/screens, though many are running unopposed. (Hmm…how will I ever chose who should get the Board of Ed seat in Section 2, let alone Section 8!) As David in Atlanta points out in the comments, I seem to have ignored that most of the first few pages are a collective list of all local senators and reps across the state. Still, I think the post title still applies. There’s still much to consider.
But the final page is where all the really interesting local stuff is located. That’s where you’ll find all of the strangely worded constitutional amendments, referendums and special elections. As the AJC points out on its front page this morning, the most relevant local issue is the one that could potentially rein in the power of the DeKalb CEO, who currently presides over all commission meetings and sets the agenda. But just from seeing it on the ballot, I’m sure some folks will have no clue that’s exactly what it will do. Here’s the wording…
“Shall the act be approved which provides for the presiding officer to preside over meetings of the DeKalb County Commission and for the commission to establish its own agenda for such meetings?”
If you think that DeKalb needs to be run a little more like a republic and a bit less like a pseudo-monarchy, you’ll want to vote “yes” for this one. All members of the current commission support the measure (big surprise!), including incoming CEO Burrell Ellis (real surprise!), according to the AJC article.
Perhaps next time we’ll address proposed constitutional amendment #2 (which really should be called the Beltline project resolution), regarding school districts use of tax funds for redevelopment purposes. What fun!
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The actual ballot itself will not be this long. This sample has all possible DeKalb County races in it. You’ll only get to vote on the races that fall within your district. For example, you’ll only get to vote on the state representative race for your specific representative district.
I’m interested in the second amendment proposed, regarding whether or not to allow school districts to spend money on community redevelopment plans. On the surface, this sounds like an expansion of school district taxing and spending authority. School district spending should be focused on schools, not community redevelopment. We have city and county government for that. Do we really want school districts making those kinds of decisions? That sounds like an invitation to hike school tax bills. I’m opposed to the expansion of government powers without good reason. I recommend a “NO” vote unless there is something to this that I’m missing.
To avoid the lines consider advance voting the week before the election, no reason required, at the main office or one of the satellite offices – one is right in downtown Decatur at 330 West Ponce:
https://dklbweb.dekalbga.org/voter/pdf/advanceVotingLocation08.pdf
The 2nd item is the TAD amendment. To recap the Ga. Supreme Court ruled that school tax dollars could not be spent on redevelopment projects. Tax Allocation Districts are used throughout the US and are usually called Tax Increment Financing. They are one of the only tools local government has to encourage redevelopment.
They work something like this: Local governments and school boards approve an area for a TAD and establish the baseline tax assessment before redevelopment occurs. The property owners in the TAD pay an amount equal to the fully assessed value to the local government and school board. After redevelopment, the tax increment that is created above the baseline (this is the value the new development created above the baseline) is pledged to repaying bonds that the local development agency has sold instead of going into the general tax revenues. The proceeds of the bonds are used to write down infrastructure costs like road improvements, cleaning up contaminated soil, new water sewer and storm water lines. The baseline taxes are continued to be paid to the local government and the school board. At the end of 30 years, sometimes earlier, the bonds are repaid and the value of the entire property goes into the general tax revenues.
Local governments currently have the authority to create TADS, and this amendment would allow school boards to participate. Typically school property taxes are 60-70 percent of the property tax bill. When the Supreme Court removed school boards from participating, the impact was to greatly reduce the bonding capacity of new TADs, and make them fairly useless. The Beltline was counting on TAD financing to buy openspace and build bike and transit lines. Atlantic Station is a TAD and much of the property around Centennial Park is too.
I belief school boards should have the option to participate. This amendment doesn’t create any TADS, but it allows for their creation. If it passes, local school systems must review and approve each application and make a decision based on the merits of the situation. When they consider a TAD district, they must consider if the new development is going to have a significant impact on the school system. For example, if there is going to be a lot of new school age children at the TAD it won’t pay for itself, and a rational school board would vote against the TAD. However if the development is for an office building or commercial center, the school board doesn’t risk anything. The larger community benefits by getting rid of a blighted property, and not having to spend money on the infrastructure. The improvements at a site might improve property values outside the TAD and increase tax revenues.
It took me less than 15 minutes to vote today at the Tax Commissioner’s facility at 4380 Memorial Drive, and it was a very pleasant experience. It was well organized, and people were in great spirits.