Whenever HOST money is brought up, no one says much.  I think it’s mostly because it’s such a messy ball of red tape and “complicated” calculations that for most it’s just not worth the time trying to understand.  But for those who have enjoyed following the HOST litigation with the county over the last decade or so, here’s an interesting little epilogue.

Reporter Newspapers had a report last week (h/t Decaturish) stating that another effect of adding new cities in DeKalb County would mean smaller HOST allocations for existing cities.  Why?  Chalk it up to that “complicated formula that includes the value of the area’s tax base and the services it receives from DeKalb County.”  So there you have it.

According to the article, last year Decatur received $3,729,679, the third largest amount of HOST money behind Dunwoody and Brookhaven.  Previous year’s allocations had been used to partially fund the renovation of the Rec Center and there was talk of using it to repair sidewalks, etc.

So there you have it.  DeKalb cities lost the long lawsuit vs. the county about unpaid HOST money a couple years back and now it seems the current allocation may soon become smaller.

Though DeKalb’s cities recently lost a long fought battle with the county over a decade of HOST money not paid, they still will soon join Dunwoody to get their fair share of local sales tax money to be used for capital improvement projects inside their borders.  That amounts to around a cool million dollars a year for Decatur, at last check.  The AJC has a nice little article on DeKalb’s recent road and sidewalk project cutbacks and a couple lines about Decatur’s initial plans towards the end….

Decatur plans to use $500,000 of its projected $2.3 million share on an ongoing renovation to its 53-year-old recreation center. The $6.9 million overhaul is expected to take a year.

The city also could use HOST money on everything from sidewalk projects to park pavilions, though no official list has been prepared. City Manager Peggy Merriss said she plans to introduce a policy for spending that money in February.

“We have got plenty of projects that need to be done,” Merriss said. “We won’t have any problem coming up with a list.”

According to a newspaper website, the city of Decatur currently has two financing options on the table if it decided to build the unfinished projects left over from the 2006 bond referendum (Fire Station #1, the Rec Center, and the Public Works building.)

The city could raise the millage rate by .4 (equivalent to $72 a year on a $400,000 house) or it could dip into its reserve fund for two years and then use $900,000 a year in capital improvement sales tax money, which is currently being withheld by DeKalb County, to make the loan payments for the remainder.

As the Mayor pointed out in an off-hand comment during a recent commission meeting, the city has to make a decision regarding the ongoing HOST sales tax lawsuit it has with DeKalb County.  Either the city can continue the lawsuit, which is slowly crawling its way back to the GA Supreme Court again, and hope that they win AND that DeKalb can somehow come up with the $10 million in owed back taxes, or they can drop the lawsuit, give up the $10 mil and start getting their nearly $1 million a year from the County “tomorrow”.

I’ll have to get clarification, but I’m assuming that the idea of using two years of reserve fund money is mainly a time-cushion to insure that whatever the outcome of the lawsuit, the city will at least be receiving its annual $1 million from the county by that point.

The city is holding a public information session on our options tonight at 6:30p at City Hall.  Click here for more info.

Ty Tagami has a great piece in the AJC this morning, which summarizes all the lawsuits DeKalb County is currently fighting with its cities over the distribution of HOST.

Mayor Floyd is quoted in the article saying that Decatur has spent over a $1 million in litigation costs since the HOST legal battle began 9 years ago.  But, as he also points out, what’s at stake is around $1 million a year in capital improvement costs.

Again, DeKalb County refused to comment for a HOST article.