Jacobs Presents Brookhaven Study to House Committee

Drawing comparisons between Dunwoody and Roswell, State Rep. Mike Jacobs presented to the House Governmental Affairs Committee Tuesday afternoon the findings of the to make a case for the formation of the proposed City of Brookhaven.

Touting a decrease in property taxes, equivalent or better police coverage, and centralized local representation, Jacobs said provides citizens living within the boundaries of the proposed city with a more efficient, less expensive government.

He used as an example the milage rate cap of 3.5 mils that the bill calls for in addition to the elimination of the special service tax district line item to be reallocated to towards a city tax. Additionally, he noted that members of the group Citizens for North DeKalb felt that the more than $480,100 that DeKalb County spends to maintain parks within Brookhaven is insufficient. He said that the study demonstrates that the city could spend substantially more to maintain award-winning parks while staying within a manageable operations budget.

Jacobs told the committee that the City of Brookhaven's form of government would be identical to that of Dunwoody – six council seats and one mayor with four-year terms in three councilmatic districts. He also noted that the city would retain the services of a professional city manager, versus the use of a political chief administrator.

“Right now, there are three county commissioners who share Brookhaven. None of them live in Brookhaven,” Jacobs said. “The only two non-judicial elected officials are myself and Representative [Elena] Parent, and we’re state officials.”

The City of Brookhaven, he said, would manage its own police force, parks and recreation, roads and drainage, planning, zoning and land, use while DeKalb County continues to operate schools, fire, and sanitation services.

"At worst, the City of Brookhaven is proposed to have the same level of [police] service as DeKalb County," Jacobs said.

Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur) raised concerns that the study did not take into account the financial impact to surrounding communities, particularly the impact of DeKalb County.

Jacobs contended that the numbers provided by the study gives a comprehensive enough picture to determine an accurate financial impact to DeKalb County.

Town Brookhaven – the mixed-used development constructed by Sembler Co. on Peachtree Road - was raised as a concern of loss revenue from the county. Sembler was the recipient of a piloted 10-year tax abatement from DeKalb County worth $20 million, however, the Jacobs noted that property tax revenues from Town Brookhaven were not included in the study.

Additionally, Jacobs addressed concerns that he would seek political office in the new Brookhaven should it become its own city. The bill, he said, stipulates that no state legislator can seek elected office for four years following the city's formation.

Jacobs outlined the following timeline for the formation of the city:

• July 31, 2012: Referendum vote 
• Transition task force
• Nov. 6:  City Council election
• Dec. 4: City Council runoff
• Dec. 17: City begins operation

No public testimony other than Jacobs' presentation was heard Tuesday. A second of three meetings is scheduled for Jan. 31 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. in room 341 of the State Capitol where public testimony will be heard.