The Committee for East Cobb Cityhood has released a feasibility study declaring financial viability without imposing new taxes.
The group’s press release can be found here; a link to the full report, which was compiled by researchers at Georgia State University, can be found here.
A major change in the focus of the report is the addition of police and fire services to the financial analysis.
Police and fire services were included in the initial 2019 Cityhood effort, although legislation filed for consideration in 2020 was abandoned.
The proposed city introduced this year would contain a population of 50,406, around half from the 2019 bill.
The new boundaries would include the Johnson Ferry Road corridor, running west to Old Canton Road and including most of the Walton High School attendance zone and some of the area around Pope High School (click here to view map).
Areas of East Cobb closer to the city of Marietta, comprising most of the Wheeler High School zone, were taken out.
The revived Cityhood effort, which was announced in March, included planning and zoning, code enforcement and parks and recreation services. Road maintenance was later added.
The Cityhood committee said Friday that police and fire were added back into the feasibility study based on public feedback and that parks and recreation were pushed back to the appendix to be considered on contingency, along with road maintenance.
Researchers from the GSU Center for State and Local Finance made comparisons to similar-sized cities—Brookhaven, Dunwoody, Johns Creek, Marietta and Smyrna—to help craft their report.
The study estimated annual revenues of $27.7 million and estimated annual expenses of $24.65 million for a budget surplus of $3 million annually (see chart below).
The single-largest revenue source would be existing property taxes ($15 million), and public safety services would be the largest expense ($14.3 million).
The existing property taxes would be the 2.86 mills that make up the current Cobb County Fire Fund, and that would be transferred to a new City of East Cobb.
Under the proposed city, that would become the primary revenue source, collecting around $12 million a year.
Other taxes include around $1 million in real property taxes, as well as utility and franchise fees and alcohol taxes.
The City of East Cobb would purchase two existing Cobb County Fire Department stations that are within the proposed city boundaries (they’re not identified in the report but they are No. 20 at the East Cobb Government Service Center on Lower Roswell Road, and No. 15 on Oak Lane near Johnson Ferry Road).
The study did not indicate how big a police force or fire department would be staffed, in terms of number of employees.
The study estimated around 50 total employees would be on staff citywide, but the report didn’t detail a breakdown.
The Georgia State researchers estimated startup costs of $984,000, and their report indicated no expenses for facility leases.
In fact, there’s no mention of a a City of East Cobb government having a physical location, other than public safety services.
As we noted earlier this week, two other Cityhood efforts in Cobb County—for proposed cities of Vinings and Lost Mountain, in West Cobb, also have commissioned studies concluding that they would be financially viable.
The Lost Mountain proposal does not call for a city government facility to be owned or leased, but for existing community space to be rented for meetings and other public events.
But Lost Mountain and Vinings are not proposing public safety services.
The East Cobb Cityhood study was to have been released this coming Monday.
There will be an information session next Wednesday, Nov. 17, at 5:30 p.m. with state Rep. Matt Dollar, state Rep. Sharon Cooper, co-sponsors of the East Cobb Cityhood legislation to be considered in 2022, and the East Cobb Cityhood Committee.
To sign up: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/5293479304166286864.
Their bill, if passed by the legislature, would establish a November 2022 referendum for voters in the proposed City of East Cobb to decide whether to incorporate.
Related Stories
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- Peachtree Corners city manager: ‘Government is a difficult business’
- East Cobb Cityhood commissions feasibility study
- “Sense of pride” emphasized at Cityhood town hall
- Cityhood committee leadership team details revealed
- At town hall, Cityhood leaders stress ‘local control’
- Q & A: State Rep. Matt Dollar, sponsor of cityhood bill
- Cityhood group to hold virtual town hall April 14
- Anti-East Cobb Cityhood group calls renewed effort ‘Jaws 2’
- East Cobb Cityhood bill calls for Nov. 2022 referendum
- Cityhood effort revived with new proposed services, map
- East Cobb News Cityhood Page
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