Modern urban redevelopment is every bit as
ugly, we’re just used to it by now.
Government liked it so much they passed a raft of laws to ensure they
can’t be stopped by the voters aka: (riff-raff).
The crown jewel of this list of laws is in the Georgia Mayor
& City Council Handbook. The
maximum amount a city or county can borrow in Georgia is 10% of the value of
all property within its borders. That
includes all private property on the tax registry including your property. Your local government is using your equity to
borrow money. In Cobb County, the tax
registry is about $26 billion, so Cobb can borrow up to 2.6 billion. Cobb
spends $765 million a year. Cities and Counties should be limited to borrowing
up to the value of their own assets, not 10% of ours.
The first thing new cities try to do is to trick voters
into voting YES for Redevelopment Powers.
Sandy Springs and Dunwoody passed it, but Brookhaven voters voted NO.
These powers allow the city council to appoint a Redevelopment Board to borrow
funds give them to developers to fix up or tear down buildings and build new
ones. They may also appoint a
Development Board to borrow money to “partner” with developers on projects.
Among the worst Georgia Laws came from HB 277 and HB
1216. This allowed the State to set up
Regional Commissions of appointed, unelected insiders to undermine voter
control and implement UN Agenda 21 in the U.S.
The most dangerous Georgia Bill was written to allow the
Legislature to petition for an Article V Convention to adopt Amendments to the
U.S Constitution. Up to this point, all
of our Amendments have been written by Congress and Adopted by the States. Article V doesn’t have the “Adopted by the
States” step at the end. All Convention
Delegates to the Article V are “appointed”.
American Communists can’t wait to get their hands on our Constitution.
The State authorized Malls to form Community Improvement
Districts with taxing and borrowing powers.
They are the primary recipients of our Transportation funds, Federal
Grants to States and borrowing powers.
These funds are greased through the Regional Commissions, GDOT and
MARTA. Their Boards vote to sponsor Mall projects.
The State authorizes Special Taxing Districts for Fire
& EMS and other purposes. Again,
these are appointed boards with tax dollar spending and borrowing powers.
City Charters are amended by vote of the City Councils
and currently can set up appointed, unelected boards to spend tax dollars and
sell Bonds without voter approval.
Georgia Laws are set up this way to avoid having to take
tax spending issues to the voters. They
know that voters would vote NO on these Ballot Issues just like we voted NO on
the 2012 T-SPLOST.
County School Districts have used Bonds for decades,
despite the fact that long-term, 30 year Bonds paying 5% interest cost
double. A $100 million bond costs $200
million by the time you pay the interest, lawyer and bond agent fees. K-8 Neighborhood no longer exist. Creating Middle Schools was an expensive
unnecessary mistake.
There is no reason schools and public buildings need to
be replaced every 20 years. Most school buildings in the past have been
maintained to last over 100 years. This was the rule in the days when
government debt was low. It is one
reason why government debt and spending is not sustainable.
Many city and county governments have gone bankrupt in
the US since 2008. Don’t think it can’t happen in Georgia.
Cities and counties can seize your property. Excessive
easements and stream buffers make your property worth less. Sidewalk installation puts a public
right-of-way through your front yard and you are required to pay to fix it when
it cracks.
There is no reason for voters to continue to put up with government
abuse and fiscal mismanagement. There
are plenty of things government should cut.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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