You’ve probably never seen it. You’ll probably never use it. However, the cost of building the county’s new performing arts center on Rainbow Drive in southern DeKalb jumped from $11 million to $17 million this past year. That’s $17 million of your tax dollars just to build the facility. The county isn’t sure how it is going to fund the ongoing operations of this performing arts center once it opens its doors.
Decisions like this help explain why your county property tax bill increases every year. Decisions like this also help explain why county spending has jumped 40 percent in the past eight years, far outpacing DeKalb’s 10 percent population growth during that same period.
To finance the amount this project has exceeded its original budget, the county is proposing to use a clever bond financing scheme. They propose to have the DeKalb County Development Authority (a quasi-governmental entity not accountable to voters or taxpayers) float an additional $4.3 million in bonds. After construction, the Development Authority will own the performing arts center, lease it to the county, and the county will use our tax dollars to pay the principal and interest on the bonds as rent payments to the Development Authority.
In 2007, I authored and the General Assembly passed House Bill 181, which subjects this type of bond financing scheme to a referendum requirement. DeKalb taxpayers will be paying the principal and interest on the arts center bonds for years to come. The premise behind HB 181 is simple: Before using your credit card, the county should ask your permission in a referendum.
The DeKalb County Government and the Development Authority have decided to disregard your right to vote on these bonds and challenge HB 181 in the courts. As an attorney, I am donating my legal services to make sure this law is upheld.
The case is currently in DeKalb County Superior Court and probably will be appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court. Between writing briefs and making in-court arguments, the donated time will equal at least two or three weeks. It is well worth every minute to preserve your right to vote on how the county uses your tax dollars.
