YOUR TAXES ARE GOING TO GO UP!
Proponents want you to believe three things:
⇒ There is no planned tax increase if East Cobb becomes a city
⇒ The county is going to transfer many of the taxes they collect back to the new city
⇒ The county is not going to raise taxes
NONE OF THESE IS TRUE!
⇒ If you read the proposed City Charter (click here to read):
- Line 791 says, “The city council by ordinance shall establish a millage rate for the city property tax which shall not exceed 1 mill”
- Your taxes, which are now about 30.35 Mills, will go up by at least 3%
- The city council can charge ad valorem taxes and levy special assessments for projects without a referendum
- Click here to see what taxes look like in other cities
⇒ If you read the GSU Feasibility Study to see where they guess revenue will come from:
- They assume the 2.86 Mills that are being paid to Fire now will transfer immediately – that only happens when the city has built their own Police and Fire Department
- Today, you don’t pay Franchise Fees for Electricity, Gas, and Phones – the new city will add Franchise Fees as a source of revenue – utilities will pass this through to you.
- Georgia Power will add 2% to your bill, Cobb EMC will add 4% to your bill
⇒ The county is expecting a budget shortfall of $23,5 million if the city forms, and this may lead to:
- Some savings for the county not providing some services to the new city
- Some of this shortfall may be fixed expenses that have already been invested, and the county will need to increase revenue to pay for those assets, and this will cause the county to raise the General County Millage Rate for everyone