A Georgia Senate committee voted today to approve two Republican bills that would pave the way for a referendum that would allow Buckhead residents to vote to secede from the city of Atlanta.
The State and Local Government Operations Committee voted 4-3 along party lines to approve Senate Bills 113 and 114. The bills now go to the Rules Committee for a vote. If approved by the Rules Committee, the bills would go to the full Senate floor for a vote.
If the bills are approved by the General Assembly, a referendum for Buckhead to secede from Atlanta would be on the November 2024 ballot.
The vote today apparently marks the closest Buckhead has gotten to an actual vote to secede from the city of Atlanta. Last year’s efforts were blocked by Republican leaders.
Mayor Andre Dickens has said he has spoken with GOP leaders Gov. Brian Kemp, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and House Speaker Jon Burns and said he believed they would not back a Buckhead City.
Sponsor of both bills is state Sen. Randy Robertson, a Republican from Cataula, a city about 100 miles south of Atlanta. Co-sponsors of the bills are also not from Atlanta. None of Atlanta’s legislators support de-annexing Buckhead from the city.
State Sen. Jason Esteves, an Atlanta Democrat whose district includes much of Buckhead, said support of these bills would set a precedent for de-annexations across the state “and encourage other movements like the ones we’re seeing in have seen in Atlanta.”
He also said Buckhead residents have voted on their position on Buckhead becoming its own city by electing legislators like himself who campaigned against secession.
“So the people have spoken,” he said. “What is happening today is that my constituents are being forced to eat a half baked pie.”
Robertson said he agreed to sponsor the bills because a group of Buckhead residents felt their concerns — specifically about crime — were not being addressed at City Hall.
“Too many times inside this building and especially outside this building in local communities, elected officials forget who they work for,” he said. “So when movements happen that remind elected officials who the real bosses are, then I have to support that.”
Senate Bill 113 details how the transition of services and facilities between Atlanta and the proposed Buckhead City would take place. For example, a new Buckhead City would be able to buy city of Atlanta parks within its jurisdiction for $100 an acre and fire stations for $5,000 each.
Esteves said the bill would require the city to give the proposed Buckhead City at least 20% of its cash accounts and investments. It would also require the city to sell its largest water treatment plant and water and sewer system for $200,000, he said.
SB 113 also does not deal with revenue bonds, Esteves said.
“And the city has nearly $3 billion in revenue bonds that are court approved and cannot be broken by this legislature, which means both … Buckhead City and the city of Atlanta would spend millions of dollars in litigation having to deal with the repercussions of Senate Bill 113,” he said.
He added that there is a very high risk that bondholders in New York are going to call the debt of the bonds, which would put the city of Atlanta and the state of Georgia “in a financial crisis.”
