Cobb picks parks

From the Marietta Daily Journal on Wednesday, November 5, 2008 by Ashley Hungerford, MDJ staff writer

MARIETTA - Cobb residents made it clear they want more green space in the county.

Cobb voters approved another $40 million parks bond by 67 percent of the vote.

There was a total of 154,380 votes cast concerning the bond, with 103,525 in favor of it.

"Noting the economy, I think this is a great tribute to the (15-member) citizens committee who assisted us with the purchases of the first parks bond," Cobb Chairman Sam Olens said. "The public has faith in the process ... this is great because for the majority of the county, there is no millage increase. And land will never be this cheap again. This is one of the bright spots of a terrible economy."

The first $40 million parks bond, approved by more than 70 percent of voters in 2006, enabled the preservation of more than 309 acres of green space. The county still has more than $2 million left that they could still use to purchase land.

Members of the Cobb Parks Coalition, the grassroots effort that pushed for a follow-up bond, said current economic conditions make it the prime time to buy more green space. Property values are low, and developers aren't in a hurry to buy land to start new projects.

Cobb Parks Coalition leader Paul Paulson said he was impressed by the turnout in support of the parks bond.

"A lot of people worked very hard and it looks like the hard work paid off again," he said. "This was a test of what people wanted. People are sick of development and they want to preserve what's left of the green space. They told us that over and over."

In 2006 election, 121,109 of the 179,625 votes cast were in support of the bond measure.

Paulson agrees with Olens that now is a great time to purchase property.

"With the market like this, we can pick and choose this time and expand the $40 million to buy more acres," he said. "We want to purchase the best property."

The parks bond's biggest hurdle came from the cities of Marietta, Smyrna and Austell.

Because of the financing the county approved to fund the bond, residents in those three cities will see a 0.1 mil tax increase.

Olens said the financing decision was an "unintended consequence," of the short timeline the county had to get the bond measure on the November ballot.

To finance the 15-year, $40 million bond, the county plans to divert from the fire fund 0.1 mil of county property taxes collected and put those revenues toward 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. Officials said the fire fund has a surplus.

But for residents in Austell, Marietta and Smyrna, the 0.1 mil increase is not offset by anything, leading to a slight property tax increase. Paulson earlier said 0.1 mil increase would amount to about $4 per year on a $100,000 home.

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

Officials in Smyrna and Austell eventually voiced their support of the bond.

But prior to the election, Marietta Mayor Bill Dunaway said he didn't oppose the bond measure, but couldn't endorse something that he said was unfair to the residents of Marietta.

Tuesday evening, Dunaway said he voted for the bond.

"But I think it's unfair to property owners in the three cities and therefore could not endorse it," he said. "We hope that the county will try to seek out property around the three cities.

Like with the first bond, county officials said they will take nominations on tracts of land to be considered for purchase. The Board of Commissioners will appoint a citizens advisory board that will be charged with ranking the nominated properties.

Olens said they already have about 30 properties that have been "quasi" nominated, including a couple new parcels.

One new property is a 50-acre tract in northeast Cobb. Olens said the tract would be great for an area that currently doesn't have any parks.

Paulson also has some parcels in mind, including the 9.85-acre Hamby property in Kennesaw, 54-acre tract owned by Wylene Tritt on Roswell Road in northeast Cobb and a 25-acre tract owned by the Canup family in west Cobb.

With the first $40 million bond, the county purchased 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.

"We got some great pieces of property, but there's a lot left to save," Paulson said.