The Atlanta City Council will hold a virtual public work session on the proposed tax district to pay for the completion of the Atlanta BeltLine on Tuesday, Feb. 16, at 1 p.m.
The public can leave comments for the council about the proposed special services district (SSD) from 4 to 7 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 15 by calling 404-330-6021. The meeting can be watched live via Channel 26, Atlanta City Council website, Facebook or Twitter, or accessed via phone by calling 877-579-6743 and entering ID# 8315991256.
The BeltLine is also planning a series of virtual public forums on the SSD, including one for the Northeast area on Feb. 23 and one for the Northside on March 1. See the schedule at this link.
The SSD would see a 2-mill increase in taxes for commercial properties and apartment complexes located a half-mile on either side of the 22-mile BeltLine trail and transit loop. Officials with Atlanta BeltLine Inc., the organization planning and building the system, say the SSD is needed to complete the trail because the tax allocation district (TAD) created to fund construction is projected to generate $1 billion less than expected.
Some stakeholders along the corridor have spoken in opposition to the new tax, including community improvement districts (CIDS), a self-taxing scheme of commercial property owners that keeps improvement funds in a specific neighborhood. The CIDs are concerned about losing revenue while paying a double tax if the SSD is approved. The new tax is also opposed by the advocacy group BeltLine Rail Now, which is pushing for the transit element of the BeltLine to be an equal priority.
For more about this story, see coverage in Atlanta Intown.
–John Ruch contributed