BrookhavenYES, the citizens’ advocacy group supporting the proposal, is organizing a bus and carpools for supporters to attend the meeting. Click here for more information and to RSVP. The bus and carpools will leave Brookhaven at 1:15 p.m.

Also, click here to review the PowerPoint presentation that I made the House Governmental Affairs Committee this past week. Please contact me if you have any questions about it.

If your child would like to serve as a legislative page, please e-mail me at repjacobs@comcast.net and include in your message your street address and a telephone number where you can be reached. The ten spaces will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis and are only available to residents of House District 80.

Please click here to view a map to determine whether you live in House District 80.

I will not respond to the attacks, but feel it’s important to correct the misinformation. This is part of a series of responses to do just that.

For example, one flyer makes this statement:

“Why did the [Carl Vinson Institute] study ignore the impact on DeKalb County, and thus our taxes, of the ‘new city’ taking PDK airport? DeKalb County Police must pay a $2 million fine to the FAA. We, the taxpayers, would lose $2 Million right off the bat! Plus the fuel tax would be taken from DeKalb County!”

This statement is false. PDK airport is no longer within the boundaries of the proposed city (click here to see the map). However, even when PDK was within the boundaries, there was no $2 million fine that DeKalb County would have owed to the FAA. The fact that this fine does not exist was confirmed with the airport director, Mike Van Wie. In addition, no fuel taxes would have been diverted to the proposed city.

Remember that cityhood does not add property taxes to your tax bill. Instead, it shifts two of the existing county line items to the city, enabling us to keep those resources here at home. If you vote in favor of cityhood at the ballot box this July, it also will slash the rate at which these taxes are charged, cap that rate, and double the applicable homestead exemption.

The millage cap is a mechanism that prevents city property taxes from going higher than a certain rate without approval by the citizens in a public referendum. It is a benefit that does not exist in unincorporated DeKalb County.

What does this mean for you?

It guarantees virtually all homeowners a property tax cut, even if the city council sets the millage rate at the full 3.35 mills.

However, the need for the Brookhaven city council to use the full 3.35 mills is doubtful. Property taxes are likely to be lower than 3.35 mills. In its feasibility study for the proposed city, the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia (CVI) estimated that expenditures would be $25.1 million. The City of Dunwoody, a similarly situated city in terms of population and geography, anticipates 2012 expenditures of $20.9 million. The new millage cap will reduce the CVI estimated surplus for Brookhaven from $3.4 million to approximately $261,348. Based upon Dunwoody’s actual expenditures, this estimated surplus is in excess of an already generous expenditure estimate.

The $261,348 surplus is on par with the CVI estimated surplus for Dunwoody when it became a city. In the Dunwoody feasibility study published in 2006, CVI projected a surplus of $278,789. In 2009, Dunwoody’s first year of operations, its actual expenditures were roughly $1.75 million less than that. This shows that CVI’s estimates are indeed conservative.

With a $20,000 homestead exemption, the City of Brookhaven would need to charge 3.22 mills to generate revenues equal to its estimated expenditures of $25.1 million. If expenditures are like those of Dunwoody, $20.9 million, then the necessary millage rate drops to 1.16 mills.

Here is a quantification of the real tax dollars associated with the property tax cut that the City of Brookhaven could provide:

A homeowner with a $100,000 assessed property value currently pays DeKalb County $273 for municipal services. That homeowner would pay $93 if Brookhaven’s expenditures equal Dunwoody’s $20.9 million, $258 if Brookhaven’s expenditures equal the CVI estimate of $25.1 million, and $268 if Brookhaven must use the full 3.35 millage cap.

A homeowner with a $200,000 assessed value currently pays DeKalb $610. That homeowner would pay $209 if Brookhaven’s expenditures equal Dunwoody, $580 if Brookhaven’s expenditures equal the CVI estimate, and $603 if Brookhaven must use the full millage cap.

A homeowner with a $300,000 assessed value currently pays DeKalb $946. That homeowner would pay $325 if Brookhaven’s expenditures equal Dunwoody, $902 if Brookhaven’s expenditures equal the CVI estimate, and $938 if Brookhaven must use the full millage cap.

A homeowner with a $400,000 assessed value currently pays DeKalb $1,283. That homeowner would pay $441 if Brookhaven’s expenditures equal Dunwoody, $1,224 if Brookhaven’s expenditures equal the CVI estimate, and $1,273 if Brookhaven must use the full millage cap.

The 3.35 mill cap would lower Brookhaven’s property taxes to a rate less than the 3.5 mills that existed before DeKalb County increased this rate in 2011 to 6.39 mills.

I look forward to working with citizens to bring Brookhaven a more responsive local government that guarantees lower property taxes and lives within its means.

Click here to read the bill that will be considered in the Governmental Affairs Committee. This is a substitute bill that has a few differences from the bill that is currently posted on the House website.

I have asked the Carl Vinson Institute of Government (CVI) at the University of Georgia to double check, triple check, and quadruple check the millage cap that is contained in HB 636 to ensure that it provides all homeowners a property tax cut, even if the city needs to use the full millage cap, which is highly unlikely.

The millage cap that CVI recommended is 3.35 mills, which is contained in the bill.

The millage cap is a mechanism that prevents city property taxes from going higher than a certain rate without approval by the citizens in a public referendum. It is a benefit that does not exist in unincorporated DeKalb County.

Remember that cityhood does not add property taxes to your tax bill. Instead, it shifts two of the existing county line items to the city, enabling us to keep those resources here at home.

Click here to review a supplemental report prepared by CVI that reconciles the new millage cap with the Brookhaven feasibility study (click for link) that was released in November 2011.

The supplemental report projects a surplus of $261,348 in excess of the proposed city’s estimated expenditures. This is very similar to the CVI projected surplus for the City of Dunwoody, which was $278,789. Dunwoody was able to reduce its actual expenditures by an additional $1.75 million in its first year of operations, bringing its surplus to more than $2 million.

Finally, click here to view the final map that will be presented to the House Governmental Affairs Committee. Compared to the previous version, this map includes four additional parcels east of Clairmont Road and north of West Hardee Avenue, across the street from Ashford Park and including the 57th Fighter Group Restaurant.

Remember that cityhood does not add property taxes to your tax bill. Instead, it shifts two of the existing county line items to the city, enabling us to keep those resources here at home. If you vote in favor of cityhood at the ballot box this July, it also will slash the rate at which these taxes are charged, cap that rate, and double the applicable homestead exemption.

The millage cap is a mechanism that prevents city property taxes from going higher than a certain rate without approval by the citizens in a public referendum. It is a benefit that does not exist in unincorporated DeKalb County.

What does this mean for you?

It guarantees virtually all homeowners a property tax cut, even if the city council sets the millage rate at the full 3.4 mills.

However, the need for the Brookhaven city council to use the full 3.4 mills is doubtful. Property taxes are likely to be lower than 3.4 mills. The Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia estimated that city expenditures would be $25.1 million. The City of Dunwoody, a similarly situated city in terms of population and geography, anticipates 2012 expenditures of $20.9 million. The new millage cap will reduce the Carl Vinson Institute’s estimated surplus for Brookhaven from $3.4 million to approximately $362,878. Based upon Dunwoody’s actual expenditures, this estimated surplus is in excess of an already generous expenditure estimate.

With a $20,000 homestead exemption, the City of Brookhaven would need to charge 3.22 mills to generate revenues equal to its estimated expenditures of $25.1 million.

The 3.4 mill cap would lower Brookhaven’s property taxes to a rate less than the 3.5 mills that existed before DeKalb County increased this rate in 2011 to 6.39 mills.

I look forward to working with citizens to bring Brookhaven a more responsive local government that guarantees lower property taxes and lives within its means.

Click here to view the final city limits in a PDF document.  After clicking the link, you may need to click “refresh” in your web browser for the map to appear on your screen.

DeKalb County officials have convinced me that there is no real benefit to having PDK in the city limits.  The county and the FAA control the airport.  The City of Brookhaven would exercise no control over it.

Commercial properties located directly across Clairmont Road from the Ashford Park and Drew Valley neighborhoods are proposed to remain within the city limits.

The exclusion of the airport has a negligible impact on the viability of the proposed city.

When done, you’ll be driving on the wrong side of the road. No kidding. The new design is touted to improve traffic flow at the interchange.

Previous messages about this meeting have stated that it would be held in Oglethorpe’s student center. Please note that the location has been changed to Lupton Auditorium.