Tax Realty Consultant

Paul Womack summed up the feelings of many DeKalb County residents who packed a hearing Tuesday night on whether a special tax district should be created to improve the area around the jam-packed intersection of North Druid Hills and Briarcliff roads.

Womack, a former county school board member, worried the tax district would only help clear the way for a controversial $1 billion mega-project planned by the Sembler Co.

“Why should the taxpayers have to fund Sembler’s expansion?” he said to applause.

DeKalb Commissioners Jeff Rader and Kathie Gannon, who represent the area, want to create a 417-acre tax district around the intersection to help pay for road improvements, new sidewalks and parks in an effort to ease congestion, create a more walkable community and accommodate new development.

County commissioners learned Tuesday that the proposed tax district may not bring in as much money as initially thought — $56 million over 25 years, not $65 million.

Ken Bleakly, a real estate finance consultant, told commissioners at a committee meeting that his earlier estimate was too optimistic.

But the TAD could generate considerably more revenue if the area is rezoned to allow for denser development.

Tuesday’s hearing, which drew about 150 people, was required under state law that allows local governments to create tax allocation districts, or TADs.

Many urged commissioners to oppose a TAD. A vote could be as soon as Dec. 18.

“We need our tax dollars spent to keep our neighborhood viable,” said Flo Wolf of the Merry Hills Homeowners Association, the area in which Sembler plans nearly 2 million square feet of stores and offices, plus 3,700 condos, apartments and townhouses. “Let developers pay to make their developments viable.”

Some people spoke in favor of the TAD. Liz Beyer said residents were too focused on the Sembler plan to realize how the TAD might help the entire area.

“I have worked so many years cleaning up this stretch [of road],” said Beyer, a North Druid Hills neighborhood leader. “We have tried for years to get funding for sidewalks. If we took Sembler out of the conversation tonight, there would be elation … at finding a solution for the traffic out here.”

County Commission taxes would generate about $15 million, while school tax revenue would contribute $40 million, Bleakly said.

But schools historically have opposed TADs on the grounds that they divert money from education.

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/dekalb/stories/2007/12/04/dektad_1205_web.html