Comments on: Midway Annexation Passes

By: Judd Owen

Judd Owen — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 12:50:40 +0000

One other tidbit from the meeting is worth mentioning. A couple of Midway residents expressed concern about what they heard or calculated to be a 52% increase in property taxes. Baskett said he didn’t think it was nearly that high (in fact, it is, at least for my property). The mayor said that the city and county had different exemptions, so that might shrink the difference, that we pay DeK for more than we get and they’re working on fixing that, and that DeKalb was raising its millage while Decatur wasn’t (by dipping into reserves), which will shrink the difference.

But most interesting to me: The mayor said that the school part of the two bills is about the same. That’s surprising since most people, I think, assume that CSD is the main reason the Decatur bill is higher. Better schools, higher property values (which means more tax revenue all around), for about the same price. I have no doubt at all that CSD could and should operate more efficiently, but that’s not too shabby.

By: nelliebelle1197

nelliebelle1197 — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 10:37:24 +0000

So again, how does this annexation fit into the commission’s plan for smart, reasonable long-term growth? Again, I can’t support this until there is some real urban planning involved. For an example of why this is important, look about 6 blocks to my left at City of Atlanta.

A lot of the things floating around go back to these people “considering themselves part of the community” kinds of answers. That’s not urban planning and it seems from the reports Peggy Merriss and CSD agree.

By: Mr.FixIt

Mr.FixIt — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 02:16:48 +0000

The list is ridiculous. It does not even attempt to include outcomes on those AP/IB courses. Who cares how many kids they can pack into an AP class if no one passes the AP exam?

An appropriate measure would be to include both the numbers of kids in AP classes AND the numbers of kids who leave the class with a 3 or better on the AP.

By: WP Mom

WP Mom — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 22:47:14 +0000

Right-on CSD Snowflake! Agree 100%, particularly regarding the person(s) in the Central Office.

By: Raison Doubt

Raison Doubt — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 22:21:34 +0000

Hmm. Know you’re just passing on Tipster’s info, DM, but I didn’t follow the logic regarding assembly of large parcels. Were these properties themselves assembled and then re-subdivided?

Obviously there are still DeKalb properties adjacent to the city limits that a developer could assemble. How does this annexation INCREASE whatever say neighboring Decatur property owners have in potential new plans for DeKalb properties?

And I’m also at a loss on the benefits of putting only a portion of the green belt along the creek within the city limits when it appears an adjacent portion is still shared with DeKalb (from the map at inDecatur: http://airbornecombatengineer.typepad.com/in_decatur/2009/06/welcome-to-our-newest-citizens.html).

That map makes this annexation look very, very strange.