$50,000,000 for a new Sandy Springs’ City Hall?

The down payment is $8,000,000
Decision time is November 18, 2008!

(See other posts in this blog on this subject dated July 26 and August 23)

Link to www.SandySpringsAdvocate.com
Email the Sandy Springs City Council

The Sandy Springs City Council has just decided to have one (that’s ONE) public hearing before they vote to spend $8,000,000 for a downpayment on what will become tens of millions of dollars ($50,000,000+?) for a new City Hall for Sandy Springs. The citizens of Sandy Springs are being given only 12 days with virtually no advertising or public notice that a final vote is being taken on November 18, 2008. Do you think the city should spend this money on this project?

The Council may say there is no discussion of raising taxes to pay for this expenditure since they already have an overcollection of taxes in the bank. Instead of spending this money on infrastructure improvements (or refunding it to the taxpayers) they feel the need to purchase an $8,000,000 building and let it sit empty until they figure out how to collect even more unbudgeted taxes for improvements.

My personal position is that there is no argument good enough to spend this money on this purchase. The vote should be NO! Hands down.

The vote should be NO. Not just because we are in a significantly tumultuous period of economic uncertainty, but because it’s a bad idea. It’s what “old government” would do. Sandy Springs’ residents were promised a “new government” paradigm. What has happened to this promise in such a short period of time? The overwhelming majority of the Council is poised immediately to spend this money. Perhaps, with your quickly communicated and strong personal “encouragement” the Council can be convinced to vote NO to this waste of taxpayer money.

In order to acquire, plan, and build a new City Hall at the Target Store site some one or combination of the items listed below will be REQUIRED:

• a redirection of available capital funds ($8,000,000 now + future money for building, etc.) AWAY FROM roads, parks, sewers, storm water drainage, police and fire department equipment and personnel, and other important Sandy Springs’ infrastructure needs. The money can't be spent on a new City Hall AND these needed items.
  
• a bond issue or some other type of LOAN may be required to fund planning, construction, and operation. If that's a chosen option it's important to understand that borrowed money needs to be paid back . . . Guess from what source of funds . . . Your future tax payments.
• an almost certain SUBSTANTIAL and PERMANENT TAX INCREASE!
  

Here are some elementary reasons every Council Member, including the Mayor, should vote NO to acquiring a building for a Sandy Springs’ City Hall. There are many more, but this is a start.

• This old Target Store location is prime Sandy Springs commercial real estate. If the City owns it then it is permanently removed from the tax digest and the residential property owners will not benefit from what would be substantial commercial property tax revenues ever again. By permanently reducing commercial property tax income here the Council MUST collect MORE TAXES from residential property owners.
• The current City Hall strategy is for the city to rent existing and available commercial property. This is a GOOD IDEA and should be continued. The private property owner of the offices currently rented by the City pays taxes to the city – property taxes and business license taxes! So however much the “rent” is . . . the city gets a reasonable portion back as a “discount” by collecting taxes from the property owner they actually pay!
• By renting space for City Hall the city supports that local business and helps keep area commercial occupancies high.
• The $8,000,000 is from a “Slush Fund” created by the city collecting more tax money than they budgeted. The position that should have been adopted regarding this over collection is that the City Council should have REDUCED TAXES and/or RETURNED the over collection. Unfortunately they are rushing to SPEND this money for something that is totally unnecessary and where the money being spent is only the “down payment!”
• The $8,000,000 is just a drop in the bucket relative to what a City Hall construction project will cost (forgetting that this prime commercial property will never again be a revenue generator for the city). There has been NO planning, NO architectural drawings, NO needs assessment, NO external advisory committee study or recommendations (like were commissioned for Hammond Park), NO financial impact study, etc. The $8,000,000 is to purchase the building shell and allocated parking lot. Remember this is just for the Target Store, not the contiguous part of the building and parking area containing the Goodwill drop off center.
• Future costs to plan, demolish, construct, outfit, and maintain this and surrounding property to build a City Hall could easily exceed $50,000,000 over the next several years. Where is that money coming from?
• Any money spent on City Hall will reduce the amount of money available for NEEDED Capital Projects and will certainly require INCREASED TAXES.
• The city needs to be focused on many other infrastructure and capital projects. This does not include acquiring and building a City Hall.
• The city needs a permanent Police Station, but the old Target Store location is not the place for this! That is a subject for a different time and it needs to be placed in a different location (maybe a renegotiated effort for the city to use or build onto the Fulton County Annex?). One proposal by the Council was for the Police Station to be the first user of this prime commercial property location.
  

The Council’s quick turnaround for a public hearing almost guarantees no substantive public debate and virtually no opposition. Most of the City Council is representing that their constituents almost universally want them to spend this money on acquiring this property using arguments like . . .

• It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity
• If we don’t do this right now someone else will buy it
• The price will never be available again
• The location is “perfect”
• We can’t let this chance pass us by
• It’s what “the people” want
  

Do “the people” want this or does a misdirected City Council want this? Here are some ALTERNATIVES FOR THE COUNCIL TO CONSIDER on Tuesday, November 18. It’s clear that I want a definitive NO vote, but . . .

• at the very least the Council should delay the definitive vote, schedule a series of public hearings and create a Citizen’s Advisory Council that is charged with presenting a Citizen’s Recommendation in addition to a professional review and recommendation.
• Since this is such a large purchase with such long lasting cost implications my ultimate preference is for the City Council to call a special election and to put this on the ballot for the voters and taxpayers to decide instead of leaving this important decision only to the discernment skills of the six Council Members and the Mayor.
  

WHAT CAN YOU DO? . . . .

1) Send every Council Member and the Mayor an email letting them know your personal position (easy to do if you go to www.sandyspringsadvocate.com – one form to complete and they all get notified)

2) Attend the City Council Meeting on Tuesday, November 18, 2008!!!

3) Don’t be bashful. Speak up! It's YOUR MONEY and YOUR FUTURE TAXES.

Link to www.SandySpringsAdvocate.com

Email the Sandy Springs City Council



jim.buckler@sandyspringsadvocate.com