Audience Worries About Rush to Cityhood

Representatives from the City of Briarcliff Initiative (COBI) made their case for cityhood Thursday night in a presentation at First Baptist Church in Avondale Estates.

However, COBI heard a lot of concerns from two state legislators and the audience not about their proposal as much as the lack of coordination and discussion between cityhood groups, neighboring cities and the county about the issues potential cityhood raises.

State Rep. Karla Drenner (D-Avondale Estates) hosted an informational meeting for COBI to discuss their plan for cityhood. Drenner had earlier called 6,000 constituents to alert them of the meeting and cityhood's possible impact upon them.

State Rep. Michele Henson (D-Stone Mountain) expressed concerns for those areas of unincorporated DeKalb that would be left out of the various cityhood maps.

Henson told the crowd she "would love to see everything delayed a year," so that all sides would have more time to discuss issues, including annexations in bordering cities and how cityhood proposals could impact them.

The legislator also said the House Government Affairs Committee, which will deal with the various cityhood plans, has no intention of spending the entire next session on cityhood in DeKalb, meaning that decisions will be rushed. Drenner and Henson explained the "fluid" nature of the process, and that what the Legislature comes up with as the final boundaries of a new city may differ from what was originally proposed.

Drenner said that officials in Decatur, Avondale Estates and Clarkston all have annexation plans that could be impacted by cityhood maps.

COBI President Allen Venet and board member Herman Lorenz explained the group's proposal for a city of Briarcliff, and answered an array of questions.

The most persistent question: Won't the creation of city government actually lead to tax increases? Venet and Lorenz stressed that has not been the case in other new cities locally. In each case, they said, new cities have shown in their feasability studies that they have been able to provide services without raising taxes. Lorenz said city taxes will amount to about 3 percent of an overall county tax bill.

As did leaders in a Lakeside City Alliance meeting Monday, Venet addressed questions about franchise fees. One small fee a new city could charge that is not already charged is for telephone service.

Venet went into detail explaining the irony that residents are currently paying county franchise fees for services and they never see that money returned to their areas. With cityhood, he said, cities would get that revenue back.

During the Q&A, a number of those in the audience expressed deep frustrations with county officials and also said they needed more information at all levels on the meaning of cityhood. One woman wondered what would happen to services in those unincorporated areas bordering a new city but not part of it.

Members of the audience asked the legislators what they could do to express their concerns to the Legislature. Henson pointed out there will be three public hearings before the General Assembly takes up cityhood.