Committee for East Cobb Cityhood

Revised East Cobb cityhood study adds $1.4M in annual ad valorem revenues

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A week after a group touting East Cobb cityhood released a rosy financial feasibility study, the report was revised with a projection of additional annual revenue.

The report, prepared by Georgia State University researchers and made public Dec. 11, initially included no revenue from the state title ad valorem tax (TATV), explaining that the proposed city of East Cobb has no car dealerships.

But the revised report, which was dated Dec. 18 and made public today, acknowledges that the TAVT calculation is based on where motor vehicles are registered.

The revenue based on vehicles in the proposed city of East Cobb, according to the revised report, would come to nearly $1.4 million a year.

Here’s a link to the revised study, which explains the calculation in detail on Page 8. The estimated revenue table on Page 22 and shown in the chart above includes that line item, which was absent from the initial study (PDF here).

The estimated annual revenue for the City of East Cobb would rise from $48.4 million to $49.8 million. The estimated annual expenses are unchanged, at around $46 million a year.

The expenses would include police, fire and emergency services, planning and zoning and for general administration.

The updated report still concludes that East Cobb cityhood is financially feasible. The Committee for East Cobb Cityhood, Inc. paid $36,000 to commission the report by GSU’s Center for State and Local Finance.

It’s one of two entities, along with the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia, that conducts required feasibility reports for those seeking cityhood.

The two-year process includes state legislation that would call for a referendum to be voted on by residents of a proposed municipality. New cities must provide a minimum of three services.

The revision of the 22-page East Cobb cityhood study noted the addition of the ad valorem revenue and said “no other material changes were made.”

In an e-mail response to a request by East Cobb News, Phil Kent, the public relations consultant for the cityhood group, said the revised study also “answered critics with additional references to the base year 2017 for its property tax analysis.”

We’ve followed up for a further explanation and will update when we get it.

The proposed city of East Cobb includes unincorporated areas of Cobb Commission District 2 that are east of I-75 and outside the Cumberland Community Improvement District.

The population of that area comes to around 96,000.

The initial GSU study was circulated to a select group of community influencers in East Cobb right before Christmas, and some of them had concerns about the numbers and methodology.

One of those citizens, Joe O’Connor, resigned in protest, accusing the cityhood group of a lack of transparency.

Little is known about who is behind the cityhood drive other than its president, Atlanta Country Club resident Joe Gavalis, and G. Owen Brown, founder of the East Cobb-based Retail Planning Corp.

Thea Powell, a former Cobb commissioner who also is part of the ad hoc citizens advisory board, said she found information about East Cobb businesses outdated, going back to 2012, during the aftermath of the recession.

The East Cobb cityhood group has not indicated what its next steps may be or when the public may be informed of its plans.

 

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Top East Cobb stories for 2018: Mystery East Cobb cityhood effort launched

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One of the late-breaking major stories in East Cobb in 2018 figures to linger well into 2019 and beyond: An exploration of a possible city of East Cobb.

It’s not the first time such an idea has been floated, but a group called the Committee for East Cobb Cityhood, Inc. has spent $36,000 for a feasibility study that currently is circulating among a hand-picked group of community leaders. East Cobb cityhood

Both the committee and the citizens group chosen to examine the study have not been fully identified, and those contacted by East Cobb News to provide further information beyond perfunctory press releases have been reluctant to discuss anything.

That includes likely next steps, and possibly the introduction of state legislation calling for a referendum that is part of a two-year process.

Joe Gavalis is the cityhood group’s president and a resident of the Atlanta Country Club area. G. Owen Brown, founder of the East Cobb-based Retail Planning Corporation, is listed as the group’s incorporator, and political consultant and TV pundit Phil Kent has been hired for public relations.

One member of the citizens advisory board, Joe O’Connor, resigned in protest, telling Gavalis that the cityhood effort needs better transparency.

“I’ve always said that if you’re hiding something, then you’ve got something to hide,” O’Connor told East Cobb News.

Other members of the citizens group told East Cobb News right before Christmas that they’ve just begun looking at the study and haven’t formed any impressions. Former Cobb commissioner Thea Powell said while she has some problems with the study’s numbers and methodologies, the idea of cityhood is worth examining.

The study, conducted by researchers at Georgia State University, concluded that East Cobb cityhood is “feasible” given the data they were given to work with.

Among the concerns is that 85 percent of the proposed city’s tax base would be from residential property, and only 15 percent is commercial property.

Another question that’s been raised is the proposed city map, which doesn’t include all of East Cobb. Its boundaries include only areas of unincorporated Cobb in commissioner Bob Ott’s District 2 that are east of I-75 and outside the Cumberland Community Improvement District.

The northern boundaries of the proposed city, in fact, identically match the northern boundaries of District 2, which was redrawn and went into effect in 2017. The population of the proposed city would be around 96,000, roughly half of what is generally considered East Cobb.

In addition, the exact reasons why the cityhood group is pursuing this effort also haven’t been fully revealed. Gavalis has said there is displeasure that District 2 property taxes provide 40 percent of Cobb property tax revenue, and that some want more of their tax money to stay here.

He did say that among the potential service priorities for a city of East Cobb would be police and fire, as well as community development (planning and zoning).

Gavalis has said that the community will be informed of the cityhood’s next steps but did not indicate when that might be.

“We want to be transparent but we are compiling answers to questions about the study and formalizing our strategy on the expertise levels that will be needed to provide insight and professional advice,” he said.

 

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City of East Cobb committee leader declines to identify group, or indicate when public response may take place

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The president of a committee exploring possible cityhood for East Cobb is declining to identify those he has been meeting with and is not indicating when the group may begin a community dialogue about the issue.

Joe Gavalis, a resident of the Atlanta Country Club area, said in response to written questions from East Cobb News this weekend that he and others he has been discussing cityhood with are still examining a feasibility study released this week.

That study, commissioned by his Committee for East Cobb Cityhood, Inc., was conducted by Georgia State University researchers, who concluded that based on the data they were given to work with, such a city is “financially feasible.”

The most likely next step would be introduction of state legislation, a two-year process that would require a public referendum. If such a bill is introduced next year, the earliest such a vote could take place would be 2020.

Gavalis said if “a review of the GSU study and the community response indicate a desire to proceed,” the group “will work with our elected officials to introduce appropriate legislation.”

He would not say when the public would be fully briefed on the cityhood group’s plans, only that “meetings with our fellow citizens in our community will be initiated” and media outlets “utilized.”

The group also has launched a website, but there’s no other information there than what’s previously been released.

Gavalis said he began the cityhood inquiry “after hearing that others in our county were looking to form a new city,” a reference to conversations taking place in South Cobb, and to see if a new city of East Cobb would be feasible.

During that process, he said, “hundreds of neighbors, business owners and social groups were engaged in recent months about their interest in creating a city in East Cobb. Many asked me to spearhead a loose-knit group to help foster debate regarding the idea.”

He did not identify anyone by name. The only other name that has been made public about the cityhood committee is G. Owen Brown, who is listed on state filing documents as the group’s incorporator. Brown is the founder of the Retail Planning Corporation, an East Cobb-based commercial real estate firm located on Johnson Ferry Road.

Gavalis said that one of the driving forces behind East Cobb cityhood is more local control of government services. Currently, he said, each of the four Cobb district commissioners serves 175,000 people. In the City of East Cobb map that’s been proposed, each city council member would represent around 12,000 citizens, “who would be better served regarding local services and other issues.”

Commissioner Bob Ott, who represents District 2 that covers the proposed city map, has pointed out previously that roughly 40 percent of property tax revenue comes from his district. He has said some residents have told him they don’t think they’re getting their money’s worth.

His district also includes the Cumberland-Vinings-Smyrna area, with major corporate and commercial offices, but it is not part of the proposed City of East Cobb.

For a more detailed map of the proposed City of East Cobb, click here.

When asked which services were priorities for the cityhood group, Gavalis said that community development (which includes planning and zoning), police and fire “are high on the list.” State law requires new cities to provide a minimum of three services.

Gavalis is a retired federal agent who serves on the Cobb Neighborhood Safety Commission and has also been on the Cobb Elder Abuse Task Force. He noted that regarding East Cobb cityhood, “discussions have always taken place since former Cobb Commissioner Bill Byrne proposed a city [in the 2012 elections], and there have always been cityhood movements in metro Atlanta over the last decade.”

Gavalis said there is an East Cobb cityhood steering committee that “is an unofficial group of citizens with knowledge of our community who have volunteered to look at the issues of forming a new city with no pre-set determination for or against a city.”

He said those individuals, whom he also declined to identify, are also examining the feasibility study.

That study cost $36,000, according to a copy of the contract East Cobb News obtained through an open records request. Here’s the full report, which was delivered to the cityhood group on Dec. 7.

Gavalis also would not identify who paid for the study, saying only that “citizens, neighbors and business owners have financially contributed for the cost.” He’s anticipating other donations in the future but would not elaborate.

He also declined to indicate how much the group is paying Phil Kent, CEO of the Cobb-based Insider Advantage political publication and panelist on the Fox 5 public affairs program “The Georgia Gang.” Kent has been retained by the cityhood group to serve in a public relations capacity.

The proposed City of East Cobb map that the cityhood group released doesn’t include all of what’s considered East Cobb. With a population of 96,000, it contains only unincorporated Cobb east of I-75 that is in Cobb Commission District 2, and outside the Cumberland Community Improvement District.

Asked why areas north of Sandy Plains Road are not included in the map, Gavalis would say only that the map “uses boundaries of voting districts already set by the legislature. The proposed map is clean, with no conflicting boundaries.”

The feasibility study indicated that no property taxes would need to be levied above what East Cobb residents are paying for county services.

Gavalis also was asked to respond to citizens who may be happy with the services they’re getting and worry that they might be asked to pay for another layer of government.

“Many residents are not happy and have concerns about the county adequately addressing the values and wishes of East Cobbers.”

He also would not identify those residents or specify their concerns.

Gavalis said that the proposed city is based on a tax base that’s 85 percent residential and 15 percent commercial, similar to Milton in North Fulton. He said officials there have indicated they have not raised the millage rate since 2006.

The GSU study for East Cobb suggested a millage rate of 2.96 and said it may even begin operations with a surplus of nearly $3 million.

“A smaller government can focus on providing the services important to their residents in a timely fashion and can work closely with their citizens to create the type of community they desire,” Gavalis said.

 

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