Comments on: Decatur: Meet the Proposed Annexation Areas

By: Ahn Eckst

Ahn Eckst — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 23:40:31 +0000

And thanks for your efforts to correct some of the misunderstandings on the topic.

By: Ahn Eckst

Ahn Eckst — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 21:33:26 +0000

Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it.

By: Tanya

Tanya — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 13:58:36 +0000

So, let’s follow the (not insignificant) portion of real estate taxes that goes to school systems. That won’t stay in DeKalb County – it will transfer to COD, unlike the other examples mentioned above.

Yes, DCSD has been damaged by years of financial mismanagement, but it has also been disproportionately harmed by plummeting housing values as compared to COD. And at the end of the day, no matter how you feel about people running DCSD, the students attending DCSD schools deserve better – their prospects of getting it grow a little bit dimmer if this hacks away at DCSD revenue.

By: Old School

Old School — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 01:58:54 +0000

Um, well, um, no. not so.
In most counties, the county provides two levels of service, some that are countywide and to all residents whether they live in cities or not (courts, jail, health, etc) and some services limited by geography (planning, police, fire). This isn’t that complex is it.

When the cities incorporate, the countywide services and taxes stay the same. The other services are rightly taken over by the city. Fulton police don’t patrol Atlanta, Roswell or Milton any more than DeKalb police patrol Decatur. And, Decatur residents should not pay for county police we don’t need or use. Very simple.

And, as a frame of reference, the countywide tax rate is often equal to or greater than the city rate. And, um, it is no pittance.
Look at Fulton County today, which was supposedly devastated by incorporation. The county tax rate is 10.2, the same as Atlanta residents pay for city services. Whoa, devastation. The new city of Johns Creek is 4.6 mills. They by the way have a fire department, police department, etc. Guess what, the county shrunk to accommodate the new city, just like it should have.

What I do understand is the difference between a city and a county. The county police no longer serve the city. That’s kinda the point. The county police went away from Johns Creek, Milton and Sandy Springs. Those city councils then set the level of police service appropriate for those areas. The county rightfully no longer charges those areas for police service it does not provide.
Is this that hard to understand? New city takes over service, county gets out of it. County reduces expense rightfully, city picks it up…

How is this difficult to understand? The idea that DeKalb County is somehow harmed by incorporation is absurd and a misdirection by county officials. If you buy that, let’s talk real estate later. The county is only harmed if you believe they must continue to employ all the planners, police officers, fire fighters, etc. who are no longer needed to provide service in areas once unincorporated but now municipalized. They don’t.

By: MAB

MAB — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 01:05:39 +0000

Um, you do understand that the majority of taxes (and increased, simultaneously) will go to the City instead of the County, don’t you? Saying the properties stay in the county tax base is incorrect; they only stay (physically) in the county, with a slight penance of taxes paid to the county.

You do understand how the focus of DeKalb Police might very well be pulled away from residential areas of these unincorporated sections where the biggest taxpayers, the commercial properties, have been stripped, don’t you?

By: Old School

Old School — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 00:30:38 +0000

Everyone who talks about grabbing anything from DeKalb County is flat wrong. All the property stays in the unincorporated DeKalb tax base. Nothing changes there.
The only thing different is municipal services (police, fire, parks, planning) are provided for by the new city. The county no longer has to pay for those services and rightfully should cut back and shift those responsibilities to the cities. That is what was supposed to happen with all the incorporations in both DeKalb and Fulton. It is flat wrong to say the counties are worse off. They are not.
They should not use money collected countywide to pay for services delivered to a select few anyway. That’s why Fulton was forced to create a special service district years ago — it provides city services. The countywide offerings, health, libraries, courts, the jail all continue unaffected.
None of this is harmful to the counties.

By: At Home in Decatur

At Home in Decatur — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 21:12:33 +0000

Don’t understand because I thought my scheme resulted in less votes for the wealthy unless they were willing to give up their tax advantages and be taxed at a higher proportion of their income. I figured that would never happen. I thought it was antifeudalism. But I never took a single poli sci course in college so what do I know? I’ve always liked the simplicity of one person-one vote and a flat tax rate. But then people explain all sorts of things about regressive taxes and economic impacts of the tax code and I get discouraged and suspicious. Unless we’re talking quantum physics, the genetic code, or great religious mysteries of faith, I find it hard to trust systems that cannot be clearly explained.

By: Steve

Steve — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 19:19:42 +0000

That makes no sense – please explain. Decatur provides more municipal services than any other city in DeKalb County.