Two Fulton County Commissioners introduced legislation Wednesday to end the county’s contributions to Atlanta’s Westside Tax Allocation District (TAD).
Commissioners Bob Ellis and Khadijah Abdur-Rahman co-authored the resolution to “decline participation in new projects in the Westside Tax Allocation District” and stop sending tax dollars to the city’s development authority, Invest Atlanta.
Since the TAD’s inception in 1998, Fulton County has contributed nearly $96 million, according to the resolution. The county pays approximately $9.4 million each year into the TAD.
The Fulton County Commission is considering a millage rate increase to 9.87 mills that could increase property taxes by more than 12 percent. Residents and business owners pushed back against the increase during a heated public session on Wednesday.
Language in the resolution said the “County must weigh the needs of the Westside TAD against the needs of all its citizens as it considers the best use of taxpayer dollars.”
The City of Atlanta’s chief policy officer and senior mayoral advisor, Courtney English, to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Fulton’s decision would affect Westside affordable housing projects relying on tax dollars.
“Pulling out of the Westside TAD would mean that every affordable housing project on the Westside … would either stop or be slowed. Full stop,” English said.
English added that Fulton’s move would leave vulnerable residents at the mercy of market rates for housing and potentially price them out of Westside neighborhoods.
Read the full resolution below.
