Over 1,000 attend meeting to discuss future of S. Fulton

It was a question about the future of unincorporated South Fulton County. It was a call for the more than 1,000 people gathered at Georgia International Convention Center Dec. 1 to shape their own destiny and create their own city. Anything less than incorporation, organizers said, will result in the area being annexed into existing cities.

District 7 Commissioner Bill Edwards, Fulton County Commission Blue Ribbon Panel member and Fairburn business owner Rex Renfrow, and Fulton County Tax Commissioner Dr. Arthur Ferdinand were joined by numerous local and state elected officials on stage and in an audience that caused the Salon 5 meeting room to nearly burst at the seams.

From the podium the message was clear. With the recent incorporation of Sandy Springs and with upcoming legislative proposals to create the cities of Milton and Johns Creek, the message that resonated was that the time has come to forestall the eventual annexation into Atlanta and South Fulton cities by setting out on a plan that would create a new city. If successful, the move would create a city 183 square miles in size, second only to Columbus and larger than Atlanta, and with a population that is significantly larger than the 53,000 accounted for in the 2000 Census.

The once perpetually rural landscape of South Fulton is currently undergoing a metamorphosis. Though only 10 percent of the land is developed and homes currently average $200,000 across the area, unincorporated South Fulton is the fastest-growing part of Fulton County, Edwards said. That reality is mirrored by the rapid rise in new home prices as well as income and education levels, he said.

“This is not the same South Fulton we saw 10 years ago,” said Edwards. “We’ve got to figure out what we want to do about the family of South Fulton. This is serious business. We’ve got to leave a legacy to our children.”

Ferdinand and Renfrow provided an overview of factors relating to Fulton County’s General Fund and Special Services Fund budgets. It is the Special Services Fund, said Renfrow, that greatly affects South Fulton and it is the Special Services Fund that Sandy Springs will cease paying into now that it is incorporated.

Renfrow added that if South Fulton became a city it would also initially experience a situation where expenditures would exceed revenues. But those days, he said, would be limited.

“South Fulton is the fastest-growing part of the county,” Renfrow said. “And the projection is that in three to five years we will have a surplus of revenues over expenditures and be able to stand on our own.”

When Ferdinand took the podium, he presented three options for the future of South Fulton. He prefaced those options by reminding the audience that if the move in the upcoming term of the General Assembly to create two new cities in Fulton County is successful, the outcome will be that South Fulton will be the only unincorporated area remaining in Fulton County. One option, said Ferdinand, would be to do nothing and have South Fulton consumed into a larger Atlanta where the millage rate would double. A second option, also remaining unincorporated, would see portions of South Fulton eventually annexed into existing South Fulton cities where, again, the millage rate would double in many cases. The third option, Ferdinand said, would be for the unincorporated area of South Fulton to incorporate into its own city. This option would also require a millage increase to equalize revenues and expenditures.

“With any of the options the millage rate has to increase. The difference is how you do it. You can do it with your own government or as part of other communities or as part of Atlanta,” said Ferdinand. “If South Fulton becomes a city and you have to double your current millage rate it will still be lower than most South Fulton cities and Atlanta and you would have your own government. This gap between revenue and expenditures will have to be filled. But this gap can be overcome in three to five years.”

A suggestion from one of the many residents taking the floor later in the meeting was that a sunset provision for reducing the millage rate be included if South Fulton were to incorporate. It was an idea that gained quick acceptance on the podium and on the floor.

Referring to the 2006 Special Services Fund that so heavily impacts South Fulton in the provision of services such as police, fire and parks, Edwards said its 2006 budget is showing a $19 million deficit. That deficit must be made up either by raising taxes, reducing services or a combination of the two, he said.

Edwards and others addressing the packed house continued to maintain that the issues surrounding the future of South Fulton lay at its doorstep today. Complex issues such as Grady Hospital and MARTA will not be solved overnight, they said. Yet with the recent proposed legislation that would create two new cities in North Fulton there is precious little time to hesitate. What is required is to obtain all the facts and available study material pertaining to the incorporation and formulate a strategy with legislators to determine the best approach, organizers maintained. Also needed, many insisted, is an eventual vote by residents to affirm or deny the incorporation.

Toward the end of the meeting a large group of residents surfaced questions, concerns and comments about the possible incorporation and a number of issues ancillary to it. Responding to a comment, Sen. Kasim Reed said South Fulton residents will eventually need to vote for the measure if an incorporation is to occur.

“Sandy Springs was created and now they’re back to create two others,” Reed said. “So whatever we’re going to do, it has to be done now and it has to be done correctly.”

Reed said after the meeting that enabling legislation might be included with the current measure designed to create Milton and Johns Creek. That legislation would call for the creation of the new city that now comprises the 183 square-mile unincorporated South Fulton. Such a measure, he said, would provide the time needed to bring a vote to the people.

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