I wonder how this latest nugget of info will affect the annexation debate.

This paragraph in particular is about as comforting as your 4th Quarter 401k statement…

But given financial challenges that stretch over the forseeable future, [DeKalb Superintendent] Lewis unveiled no major initiatives. Speaking off the cuff as he introduced some of his staff, Lewis said what will likely be DeKalb’s rallying cry going forward: “No matter the challenges, we always seem to rise to the occasion.”

Ummm….Huzzah?

I can’t even begin to imagine the turf war that would break out if/when the county needs to come up with a list of schools to close.

Tonight, the Decatur City Commission will hear a motion (pdf) to defer a vote on annexation until 2011.

While this announcement caught us all off-guard last week, in my opinion, it didn’t come as a total surprise.

Without any solid data on student enrollment figures, the city commission had little choice to defer the motion.  There were many other valid reasons given in the City Manager’s note to the commission on why to wait, and we heard many personal concerns from residents in the annex areas about an increase in taxes and whatnot.  But at the end of the day, the real issue surrounding this yearlong marathon issue was that no one ever provided any revised data that showed the monetary benefits of annexation given the cost of taking on additional students.

The city and all of its residents owe Judd Owen and Pat Herold a hardy “Thanks!” for catching the inconsistencies embedded in Rosser’s student enrollment figures and bringing them to light in a methodical and level-headed way.

CSD Mom sends along a note that details the the current recommendation of the school system’s Reconfiguration Committee.  In a nutshell – regardless of annexation, the CSD should move 4th and 5th graders to Renfroe after building an addition for the 2010-2011 school year.

Here are the details with and without annexation thrown into the mix.

Recommendation offered to the superintendent

After extensive learning, dialogue, and consensus-building, the committee offers the following recommendation:

Without Annexation
Option 12 (new option offered 11.19.08)
Keep current configurations for the 2009-2010 school year, adding any necessary mobile units at Clairemont, Oakhurst, and Winnona Park, in order to prepare for Option 9 Make Glennwood a K3, move 4/5 to a building expansion on the Renfroe campus for the 2010-2011 school year

With Annexation
Option 12
Keep current configurations for the 2009-2010 school year, adding any necessary mobile units at Clairemont, Oakhurst, and Winnona Park, in order to prepare for either Option 9 Make Glennwood a K3, move 4/5 to a building expansion on the Renfroe campus for the 2010-2011 school year, or Option 8 (if Option 9 will not meet annexation needs) Make Glennwood and Westchester K3s, move 4/5 to a building expansion on the Renfroe campus for the 2010-2011 school year

Timeline:

a. Superintendent presents multiple options to Board of Education
for February 10, 2009 meeting
b. Board of Education conducts informational sessions and public
hearings (if needed) end of February
c. Board of Education votes on action item March 10, 2009

UPDATE: Confirming my suspicions that the 450 number isn’t just the 441 births from 2000-07 rounded up to 450, MrFixIt reports in the comments that Rosser’s calculation is more complex than just that..though we do not yet have details.  I guess that’s the danger of posting presentations without the audio to go along with it.  Data is easily misinterpreted.

As a result…the video below is inaccurate and will need to be updated.

Pat Harold created this YouTube video showing the issue many have with Rosser’s 450 new students coming from the proposed annexation area. [h/t: InDecatur]

As shown in the Rosser Report, resident births are only calculated from 2000-2006, which comes out to 441 when all is said and done. As has been stated here by Judd and MrFixIt, the problem is that (obviously!) children attend school for 13 years, not seven. So why is it only calculated for seven years?

Are all children in the annexation area NOT immediately transferred from DeKalb to Decatur Schools? Would it only effect younger kids?

And how does the ’466′ 17 & under number come into play on page 17 of the report?

There’s a new annexation report from City Manager Peggy Merriss now posted on the city’s website, along with a colorful map.

In the report, our city manager lays out the pros and cons of annexation (with residential/commercial mix and just commercial) in detail and states that the commission has to make their decision at the November 17th commission meeting.

Some key takeaways from my first read-through…

• If Decatur does not annex, the city estimates the millage rate will go up between .5 point and 1.5 points assuming “modest” 3% growth in the next two years.
• The city doesn’t need to hold a referendum if the annexation area is over 50% commercial.
• Forrest Hills is much more in favor (3/4 in favor with 50% response rate) of being annexed than Midway Woods (1/2 in favor with 18% response rate)
• The Revenues vs. Expenditures on page 6 are a must-read.  As I read it, the commercial/residential mix provides the city with more excess cash, than just commercial…which seems to go against what many (including myself) originally assumed.

This whole document is a must read for the entire voting public.  Take a look and let’s hear your comments.

Remember the reader that recently asked about putting a Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods in Suburban Plaza? Well, my initial response had been that this plaza wasn’t even within the city limits, so the city commission had little influence on what went in there.

Well folks, that could all change as the city of Decatur thinks about expanding its borders north to N. Decatur Rd. and east along E. College towards the Avondale Estates city limits.

From GoDeKalb….

The Decatur City Commission will receive a staff report at their Jan. 22 meeting concerning possible annexation of approximately a square mile of commercial and residential property.

The city is tentatively looking at extending its northern boundary to North Decatur Road and its eastern boundary to the edge of Avondale Estates. The preliminary annexation plan could include the commercial areas at Sams Crossing and Suburban Plaza, the Forrest Hills residential area and the portion of the Methodist Children’s Home property that sits outside of the city.

Decatur City Manager Peggy Merriss said she did not anticipate the annexation would include DeKalb Medical Center. The annexation could bring 5,000 to 6,000 additional residents to Decatur.

Merriss goes on to say that the city has not “received a petition but there have been inquiries for the potential for annexation,” from residents of these currently unincorporated areas. Like any city annexation vote in the history of mankind, residents of these areas would have to weigh the inevitable property tax increase with the benefit of a more hands-on approach to development, access to Decatur municipal services (free wi-fi for Forrest Hills?) and the city’s school system.

For the city and its current residents the most obvious reason to consider this expansion would be that the city would gain a whole lotta commercial property, which if properly redeveloped, could become a cash cow in the form of property taxes. (I recall Alvin McNeely bringing up this very issue in his failed run for city commissioner-at-large). Most importantly, we could then lay claim to the nation’s very first Waffle House that sits along that portion of E. College.

So, Decatur residents…what do you think about this potential expansion that would increase our city another square mile? Are we ready and willing to redevelop a lot more mid-century commercial development in the form rundown plazas and strip malls?

If not, we might lose E. College to Avondale Estates…

“Avondale Estates Mayor Ed Rieker said in response to Decatur’s efforts, “The board will consider pretty quickly what possibility we might have for annexation. We would be looking mostly at commercial property.”

If approved by the Decatur City Commission and the state General Assembly, residents could be voting on the issue this November.

h/t: InDecatur