ATLANTA - The unincorporated area of Fulton County, Georgia, known as Sandy Springs is the closest it's ever been to becoming its own city.
The Georgia House of Representative is considering legislation that could create the new municipality by 2005. The Senate last week approved the bill 41-11.
It was the first time legislation specifically calling for the community, located in the north of Atlanta, to become its own city has passed the chamber. If the measure becomes law, one of the first major financial decisions for the new government would be the proposed issuance of bonds for a tax allocation district being considered for the area.
Eva Galambos, who heads the Committee for Sandy Springs, said Friday she is optimistic that the incorporation bill will become law this year. That's partly because another bill being considered by the legislature addresses financial concerns that have sunk previous efforts to create the planned city.
The Atlanta City Council and Mayor Shirley Franklin have opposed Sandy Springs incorporating if the plan resulted in the city losing funds under a tax sharing system. So, a separate measure already introduced in the House calls for the loss to be shouldered by Fulton County instead of Atlanta.
Fulton County finance director Patrick O'Connor said the county's general fund would lose about $18 million annually under the current Sandy Springs proposal.
If the measures are passed, Fulton County voters will have the final say on incorporation, and the question could be put to them on the November ballot. Sandy Springs' incorporation would create the state's seventh largest municipality, one with more than 86,000 residents, Galambos said. It would be the 11th municipality in Fulton County, whose county seat is Atlanta.
As a city, Sandy Springs would be able to issue its own debt for projects, such as tax allocation districts. The area is among the wealthiest in the metro area, with the average family earning about $127,000 a year. However, the area is also home to many dilapidated buildings and a poor road system. To spruce the area up, a TAD proposal has been in the works for more than two years. Most recently, the proposal received the approval of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners. The Fulton County School Board also had to agree to the district because tax dollars it receives would have to be diverted to help fund the TAD.
About $23 million of tax-exempt bonds could be sold through a conduit issuer to cover some of the start-up costs for the district No sale date has been determined.
As it stands now, Fulton County would manage the TAD, but if Sandy Springs incorporates, it would be in control.
