Parks bond concerns mayors

From the Marietta Daily Journal on Friday, September 18, 2008 by Ashley Hungerford, MDJ staff writer

MARIETTA - Three of Cobb's mayors have some concerns with the county's effort to pass a second $40 million parks bond because they said their residents would "unfairly" get a tax increase.

Marietta Mayor Bill Dunaway, Smyrna Mayor Max Bacon and Austell Mayor Joe Jerkins sent a letter to Cobb Chairman Sam Olens on Sept. 3 expressing their concerns.

"It's a question of fairness," Dunaway said. "There is no reason why city residents should pay more."

Smyrna Mayor Max Bacon said he's not opposed another parks bond, but said he would like a better understanding of how the county plans to finance the bond and how it affects his residents.

"We've got a couple of issues and concerns about how they're financing it," Bacon said. "But I'm confident that we'll work out whatever disagreements."

Austell Mayor Joe Jerkins said he feels everyone should be treated fairly.

"I don't see how they can penalize our citizens because we have a fire department," he said.

The tax increase for property owners in the three cities is due to the complicated financing of the bond.

To finance the 15-year, $40 million bond, the county plans to divert revenue raised by .1 mills of county property taxes from the fire fund to the debt fund.

For taxpayers in unincorporated Cobb, Acworth, Kennesaw and Powder Springs, the net effect on property taxes is zero because the increase to the debt fund is offset by the decrease in the fire fund.

But for residents in Austell, Marietta and Smyrna, the .1 mills increase is the debt fund is not offset by anything, leading to a slight property tax increase.

All three of the cities have their own fire departments and do not pay any taxes toward the county's fire fund.

For a person with a $200,000 home in those three cities, it equates to about $8 more per year in property taxes.

Cobb Chairman Sam Olens said the property tax increase for the three cities was an "unintended consequence," due to the rush to get the resolution approved by the Cobb Commission in time to get the measure on the November ballot.

The grassroots effort, led by the Cobb Parks Coalition, began pushing for a second parks bond early in the summer. The Commission unanimously approved the measure in July.

"When (Dunaway) pointed that out to me, he was 100 percent correct," Olens said. "We just didn't think about it."

Although he agrees the parks bond would lead to a property tax increase for residents in the three cities, Olens does not agree that it means those taxpayers would be paying to fund the bonds.

"Everyone will be paying .22 mills for the parks bond," he said. "I'm sorry with the way it came out. We didn't catch it."

Paul Paulson, leader of the Cobb Parks Coalition, said the move to get another parks bond passed was not meant to hurt any particular jurisdiction.

"It's unfortunate the way this worked out," he said. "But I believe that they will see that the small amount of money won't discourage them from voting to approve the bond ... I've talked to many people who've said without equivocation it's still worth it."

The coalition has a booth at the North Georgia Fair to help draw support for the bond measure.

But Dunaway said he still has trouble supporting something that would unfairly affect his residents.

"I'm not opposed to the parks bond, but I cannot endorse something that is unfair to Marietta tax payers," he said. "Sam (Olens), quite frankly, has showed no interest in addressing the fairness. He calls it whining."

Dunaway said he would like for the county to either guarantee that the bond would be used to purchase parkland within the city of Marietta, or give money to Marietta's parks department to purchase parkland itself.

"The city of Marietta residents are county residents too," he said.

That point Olens and Dunaway agree on.

But Olens does not agree that the county should write a check to Marietta for them to purchase parks.

"Parks should not be viewed as a city and unincorporated fight," he said. "They should be enjoyed by all."

He also said such a move would be inconsistent with the resolution approved by the Commissioners to put the measure on the ballot.

As far as guaranteeing that parkland would be purchased in Marietta, Olens said that's the purpose the citizen's oversight committee.

The advisory committee, appointed by the Cobb Commissioners, looks at all the nominated parkland, and then makes a recommendation of which land the county should purchased.

"I encourage all the mayors and cities to nominate good property for the parks bond," he said.

With the first $40 million parks bond, Cobb secured five of the six top properties proposed by the advisory committee.

Olens said he would agree to have one of his nominations onto the advisory committee be a city resident.

Larry Ceminsky, a member of the first advisory committee, agrees the financing was just an "unintended consequence," but said it won't stop him from supporting the bond.

"I would hope people realized we don't just live and stay in Marietta," Ceminsky, a Marietta resident, said. "I would hope we would go to parks throughout the county ... I think it's just a small price to pay for the value and benefit preserving parkland brings. I'm excited about the opportunity to acquire more parks space."

The county has purchased more than 309 acres using $37.67 million of the $40 million parks bond approved by voters in 2006. The county still has more than $2 million left that they could still use to purchase land.

The purchases include the 137.45-acre Stana property on Brownsville Road in southwest Cobb, $5.76 million; 112 acres of the Bullard-Stockton tract along Dallas Highway in west Cobb, $18.6 million; 26.5 acres of the Mabry Centennial Farm at the corner of Wesley Chapel and Sandy Plains Roads, $4.2 million; 16 acres near Henderson Road off Veteran's Memorial Highway near the Chattahoochee River, $2.4 million; and 17.7 acres of the Price property at Stilesboro Road near Acworth-Due West Road, $1.4 million.

The county will also use $5 million of the parks bond money to help purchase the 95-acre Hyde Farm in east Cobb.

ahungerford@mdjonline.com