East Cobb Alliance

On May 24th, Vote NO on Incorporation!

Vote NO On East Cobb Cityhood

WHAT IS REALLY IN THE CITYHOOD CHARTER

 

 

 

HB 841 contains a lot more than you might think. You can access it ONLINE by clicking here or we have a downloaded version for you here.

HB 841 creates a 6-person city council and a mayor with broad powers to adversely affect the lives of both residents and businesses by allowing them to:

  • Change zoning at their discretion.  Want an apartment building next door to you? They can do that  (see Line 112).
  • Want debt? They can spend money, borrow money, create debt, and tax citizens with special assessments for projects and services as they desire – without voter approval (see lines 99, 783-797, 831-845).
  • Tax residents as they see fit. (Lines 924-929) 
  • Collect money for public improvements via special assessments (Lines 147-148)
  • Collect fees, charges, and tolls for any services they provide (Lines 831-834) 
  • Raise property taxes. Effective January 1, 2023 they will add up to 1 Mill, which would be about a 3% increase in your property taxes (Lines 149-152)
  • Then raise them again if you, the voters, approve. (Lines 791-797)
  • Charge franchise fees to utilities. Utilities (natural gas, Cable TV, electricity, and landline telephones) will then charge you those fees on your monthly bill. (Lines 813-828)
  • Set up retirement plans. (Lines 133-134)
  • Increase their own salaries. While the mayor’s salary is listed as $9K and council members’ are $8K, these are listed as initial salaries in the bill, which means they can be “altered” by the mayor and council members. (Lines 262-263) 
  • Control the types of businesses that exist in the city. You may like some types of businesses, dislike others, but it’s the council’s choice (Line 139-146)
  • Limit our rights to make decisions. Committees, chairpersons, and officers of the city council will be appointed by the mayor. (Lines 375-377)
  • Enact any measure with a quorom and only one yes vote (line 386-387)
  • Once cityhood is approved, its governing authority can amend the charter! (Line 1095)

BOTTOM LINE: The proposed city of East Cobb will only be sustainable financially if they increase the tax base. This is accomplished through taxes (or special assessments or ad valorums) on residents and businesses and commercial and high-density development.

Bob Lax did a great job of analyzing what’s in the charter – you can read his detailed analysis by clicking here.

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