On Monday (May 4) I went to the Atlanta School Board meeting and spoke against the tax allocation district (TAD) extension that the mayor's office is proposing. If you're not familiar with TADs, here's a good resource. In (relatively) short: when a TAD is created, they take a section of the city and freeze the amount of property taxes collected there. Anything collected above that amount--for the time period allotted--goes to Invest Atlanta for projects that (ideally) would revitalize the area and result in higher property tax collection than if nothing were done. That means that the city, county, and schools cannot use that future revenue. Proponents point to Atlantic Station as an example of TAD success. I would like to note that the Atlantic Station was allowed to expire. The mayor's office is proposing extending 8 TADs across the city to collect ~$5 billion to invest in neighborhoods. Atlanta Public Schools would have to forgo over $3 billion in future revenue if approved.
Madam Chair and members of the Board,
Whether or not the projects the mayor is proposing is one question, another is whether any of them will ever happen. I spoke against the proposal because, to put it simply, we can't afford it. Below are my comments.
My name is Dr. Stephen Owens, I’m an education budget and policy analyst and father of 3 current APS students, with two more who will attend when they’re old enough. We plan to stay in APS and, more specifically, the Washington cluster for the duration of their schooling. My youngest will graduate, God willing, in 2042. I bring up the year because you all have a difficult decision about the finances of Atlanta Public Schools and tax allocation districts. A decision whose effects might not be felt by this year’s graduates but would be impossible to ignore in sixteen years. You’re faced with dual headwinds: the cost of healthcare and labor continue to outstrip typical growth in other areas, as well as a state legislature that regularly works to cripple your ability to generate revenue via property taxes. The TAD extension sees the problem correctly, but it does not help Atlantans to cripple our schools’ ability to meet her obligations to our children. For that reason, I want to thank a few of you. I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting all y’all so forgive me for the limit of my appreciation. Thank you to those of you who have said publicly that you cannot support the TAD extensions. To Dr. Zeff for your wisdom as a part of the Atlanta Neighborhood Reinvestment Initiative. To Ms. Hutcherson for your commitment to the people who elected you. Thank you to both Dr. Brock and Mr. Mitchell who publicly told my neighbors that they cannot approve the TAD extension. Y’all’s courage and grace shows that this is not some fight between the city and the schools, but simply what must be done to do right by the children who depend on Atlanta Public Schools. Like my own. Thank you.
There was a lot that happened at that meeting, perhaps that I'll write about later. I look forward to discussing how APS can better take community input, as this process feels cold and useless at times.
-Stephen
Thank you for writing and for saying this, Stephen. You are 100% right. APS could not afford to give up such a huge revenue stream - even if the City's priorities were angelic.
ReplyDeleteThe priorities are not angelic, of course. The latest sleazy prospective deal is a $200M (?) subsidy to the real estate investor who bought CNN Center. And by coincidence, extending the Westside TAD to 2055 would also put $200M+ into the pockets of the Gulch billionaires. Because, by their own 2024 projections, the Gulch bros will 'only' have pocketed ~$400M or so of property tax rebates in 2038, when the TAD is supposed to expire. The deal that Keisha gave CIM in 2018 allows them to pocket up to $650M. Billionaires hate to leave money on the table. And they have ways of getting their mayors to tip the table in their direction. It is sad that our local media don't report on that juicy little morsel from TAD extension. It's not like I haven't repeatedly made the point to reporters directly and in public comments. It couldn't have anything to do with Alex Taylor (Cox) and Tony Ressler (Gulch) being colleagues on the Atlanta Committee for Progress, could it?