Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from December, 2015

Senate Committee Declares Tucker Unconstitutional

Posted by Dan Whisenhunt on Decaturish.com .   December 16, 2015 The new city of Tucker, which was overwhelmingly approved by voters on Nov. 3, has an unconstitutional provision in its charter, a new report says. Additionally the report finds that while charters for new cities may provide a cap on tax rates, there’s nothing that requires cities to seek voter approval before raising taxes. At a Tucker 2015 meeting held in October, just before the Nov. 3 city referendum was held, organizers were still telling residents about the benefits of a "limited government," as Anne Lerner is seen here doing, while Michele Penkava (front row, far right) looks on.  Both women are now running for city council seats in District 3, though not against one another.  Each of the three districts will have two city council members.  Elections take place the first week of March 2016.  The Senate Annexation, Deannexation and Incorporation Study Committee met this summer

Where is the Benefit? County Says Reduced Services or Increased Taxes Result From New Cities

DeKalb CEO Lee May: New cities strain DeKalb budget Posted: 5:08 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2015 By Mark Niesse - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution  As money and power shifts to newly created cities, DeKalb County’s government is feeling the pinch. Interim DeKalb CEO Lee May warned Wednesday that the county will soon have to reduce services or raise taxes because incorporations and annexations have strained budgets.                                        Interim DeKalb County CEO Lee May and DeKalb Budget Director Jay Vinicki discuss the county’s proposed 2016 budget on Wednesday. MARK ... read more Credit:  MARK NIESSE DeKalb CEO Lee May: New cities strain DeKalb budget Taxes generated by cities are projected to exceed revenue from unincorporated areas for the first time

Yet Another Way to Fund a New City in Georgia ... Parking Fines

  We recently learned the hard way about the various fines, fees and penalties that the new cities like to charge the public to help pay for their expensive layer of bureaucracy.     Sandy Springs has something they call "Citizens on Patrol."  It is a group of volunteers who take a short course on specific traffic violations that occur in their city on a regular basis.  These citizens are then equipped to write tickets in the name of safety and provide your new city with the added revenue it needs to fund its own growing need for more ... more power, more committees, more ways to tax you without calling it a tax.   One great way to get your money is through parking violation tickets.  Isn't that what you asked Santa to bring you this year?    Just in case you receive a ticket in a city near you, it helps to understand the laws in Georgia that you might be accused of breaking before deciding what to do next, so here they are: Georgia Parking Laws The majority of

Secretary of State Investigates the Nov. 3 City Vote in DeKalb County, GA

OUR COMPLAINTS TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE:   Save Tucker! spoke with investigators today regarding the Nov. 3 election that resulted in the formation of the new city of Tucker.  Our complaints about the boundary changes and resulting confusion at the voter precincts were heard, but we were told that the boundary issue is mainly a "political" process and the elections office is bound by the legal descriptions provided in HB 520 for Lavista Hills and HB 515 for Tucker .  Changes that may have been suggested after the final bills were approved were nothing more than that ... suggested changes.  They did not impact the boundaries in the legal descriptions that were approved in the legislature.  For maps that show detailed renderings of the Tucker boundaries and the local city precincts, we must now contact the county GIS department.  QUESTION:   Why is it so difficult to get an actual map or accurate description?  Does it seem fair to you that the public has thi