The other problem for the county government is the geographic and demographic make-up of the county with more affluent areas in North DeKalb and lower income areas in South DeKalb. Since the majority of the county’s revenue comes from property taxes, inevitably North DeKalb ends up footing more of the bill than South DeKalb. When areas like Dunwoody incorporate, they can provide more services at the same or lower tax rates than the county due to their higher property values. I doubt there’s any way the county could find enough efficiencies to compete with that. Meanwhile, as more and more territory is annexed or incorporated in North DeKalb, the revenue available to the county erodes and the services available in the remaining unincorporated areas decline. This creates a downward spiral where the unincorporated areas become less and less desirable and property values continue to fall. The racial component also inflames both sides of the north-south divide.

For areas in the far northern part of the county like Dunwoody, the fate of South DeKalb matters very little. But cities like Decatur in central DeKalb should have a greater interest in the surrounding unincorporated areas thriving since these problems could potentially encroach upon Decatur. I think Decatur residents sometimes have a very insular mentality that what happens outside of the city limits has no effect on them. I also think there’s too much of an adversarial relationship between the county and city governments due to HOST or other issues that makes it hard for them to work together for their mutual benefit. One exception, which I hope becomes the rule, was the relocation of CCP Games to downtown Decatur. From all accounts, City of Decatur and DeKalb County worked together with the State of Georgia to make that happen.