A wealth of questions about the June 2007 vote to accept the charter and form the city of Chattahoochee Hills were addressed April 25 at a public meeting at the Rico Cultural Center. A group of more than 200 residents heard presentations and posed questions to moderator Rodney Peek, Georgia State University’s Dr. Robert Eger, lobbyist Lewis Massey, Chattahoochee Hill Country Alliance Chairman Mark Hennessy, Commissioner Bill Edwards. South Fulton Concerned Citizens board member Chuck Miller and others involved since the idea of incorporation surfaced last year. Though the group is currently centering its efforts on the annexation attempt by the city of Palmetto to more than double its size, most questions and comments were geared toward issues of possible city-hood.

Questions by residents were wide ranging, including whether the names and geographical boundaries of the proposed cities were firmly set and the anticipated tax rate if Chattahoochee Hills were to incorporate. Massey said the names of the cities as stated in the legislation was not final, nor were the corporate boundaries. The names could be changed if incorporation occurs and boundary lines could be changed during the 2007 session of the General Assembly. Addressing millage rates for the new city, Eger said the city of Chattahoochee Hills would be viable at the same 7.7 millage rate paid by unincorporated South Fulton residents to fund the county’s Special Service District budget. Ultimately, the services provided by the new city and the extent of those services depends on the what the city wants to deliver. Cities are required to provide at last three services to residents. The three services most often provided, police, fire and zoning, will be well within the means of Chattahoochee Hills to provide, he said. Eger’s 2005 feasibility study of the proposed incorporation of both cities showed that they would be fiscally viable.

“What Fulton County is providing, you can provide. But if you incorporate you will also get sales tax revenues that you are not getting now,” Eger explained, noting that millions of dollars of local sales tax is diverted away from the unincorporated areas each year.

Responding to questions about other services, Eger said the new city would have the option to lease, purchase or not to purchase current county-owned facilities such as the Rico Cultural Center and parks.

Asked about the status of the South Fulton reservoir, Edwards said he had not received any current information relating to the project. Chattahoochee Hill Country Conservancy President Stacy Patton added that Georgia Environmental Protection Division had recently said the numbers associated with constructing the reservoir were not sufficient to justify the project. The proposed reservoir, located inside the Chattahoochee Hills area, is a combined project of Union City, Palmetto and Fairburn and designed to meet their future water needs.

Some,during the meeting, and others,after it ended, questioned Edwards’ response to a number of the questions posed. Whether answering questions related to taxation or the provision of services, Edwards responses gave the appearance that he was opposed to Chattahoochee Hills creating their own city, they said. At one point during the meeting and in response to an answer from Edwards, a resident spoke out and asked if the audience could receive the opposing perspective from one of the other panel members. After the meeting, some residents said they felt that many of Edwards’ statements were geared to discouraging the creation of the City of Chattahoochee Hills.

Miller laid out one of the fundamental reasons for the Chattahoochee Hills and South Fulton communities to strongly consider forming their own cities. That reason specifically deals with local representation on Fulton County Commission in a landscape that is changing far beyond the geographical boundaries of the Chattahoochee Hills and South Fulton areas.

“Our areas are represented by one commissioner and we vote for two other at-large commissioners,” Miller said, underscoring the fact that, even if those three combined their efforts on behalf of unincorporated South Fulton County residents, they are still out voted by the majority on the commission. “The commission has not shown much interest or caring when it comes to unincorporated South Fulton (County).”

Other questions related to the seriousness the commission may give to the needs of unincorporated South Fulton County residents if voters in the North Fulton communities of John’s Creek and Milton vote in July to follow Sandy Spring’s lead and create their own cities. If those communities come close to the overwhelming majority of Sandy Springs voters that chose to create their own city, the vote would leave Chattahoochee Hills and South Fulton as the only area of Fulton County not incorporated. That new reality will, said several speakers at the meeting, throw into question the existing Special Services District taxes that are only paid by residents of the unincorporated areas. The county’s current posture of increasing taxes while decreasing services does not put prospects for the future in a good light, they said.

On the critical and often-asked questions relating to local control, comments by Hennessy, Peek, Massey, Eger and Miller were consistent. With the recent changes in Fulton County, the only hedge against local residents having a chance to control their own destiny in terms of taxes, services or quality of life, will be if they elect to adopt the charter next year and form their own city. Having one vote out of seven on the county commission will not ensure the kind of future residents can count on, they said, but electing their own mayor and city council from members of the local community provides the opportunity to control a future that will otherwise be up for grabs.

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