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LOCAL
THURSDAY, JUNE 28 - JULY 4, 2018 • Page 10
City passes millage rate, budget
despite council disagreement
City delays townhome
development, angers residents
BY DEREK SMITH
derek@dekalbchamp.com
Doraville City Council was
nearly split June 18 when it
approved the passage of the
city’s millage at 10 mills, up
from 8.951 mills in 2017, a 29.6
percent increase in property
taxes.
Councilmember Joseph
Geiermann opened the
meeting by making a motion
to approve a resolution for
the council to work with staff
to find opportunities for cost
savings and greater service
delivery efficiency
“I do think this budget and
the attendant millage rate are
necessary given where we are as
a city,” Geiermann said. “That
said, I do feel like we can do a
better job collectively of getting
together and looking at [ways to
save money]... If I know were
looking for savings throughout
the year, it’ll help me vote for
this budget.”
Councilmember Stephe
Koontz, who helped
Geiermann draff the resolution,
and councilmember Pam
Fleming, who voted against
the millage rate and the budget,
agreed that the resolution shows
the public that the council
is “serious” about exploring
options for cost savings.
The resolution passed
unanimously.
Koontz opened discussion
of the millage rate by saying it’s
time to change how the council
views funding the city.
“Rather than looking at
the economic development
and planning departments as
a necessary evil to be trimmed
as tightly as we can, I see these
all as something we should be
investing in for the city’s future
growth,” she said.
Koontz said many people
have asked her why Doraville
has “stagnated” the past 10
years while surrounding cities
have developed. She said the
city has been “pennywise and
pound foolish” by not investing
more in economic development
and planning.
Geiermann agreed, saying
it’s time Doraville started
“investing in itself.”
“I had a job, I knew I wanted
a better job, I went to school,
I paid money and I was able
to get a better job,” he said. “If
the city never actually invests
in itself, we’re going to be in
this constant cycle of treading
water.”
Councilmember MD Naser,
who joined Fleming in voting
against the millage rate and the
budget, said raising the millage
rate won’t help the city.
“We’re spending money
we don’t have, but we’re not
looking at cutting budgets, we’re
not looking at cutting services
we don’t need,” Naser said.
Fleming agreed with Naser’s
assertion that the city was
spending money it doesn’t
have, equating the millage
rate increase to using a credit
card, saying the residents and
business owners were the
creditors.
“It’s a credit card or raising
the millage, putting it on the
backs of our residents and
putting it on the backs of the
business owners of this city,” she
said.
Councilmembers Robert
Patrick and Shannon Hillard
declined to comment, but voted
for the increase, allowing it to
pass 4 to 2. The budget also
passed 4 to 2.
BY DEREK SMITH
derek@dekalbchamp.com
A group of Brookhaven
residents were angered June 12
when Brookhaven City Council
delayed a vote on a rezoning
request along Bramblewood
Drive.
Bramblewood Drive is cur
rently zoned mostly for single
family residential development
with a few lots for multifam
ily residential and offices.
The ordinance would rezone
the whole area for multifam
ily residential, so Ardent Com
panies could build 205 town-
homes in the area of just more
than 15 acres.
Rezoning the area—a cul-
de-sac between Curtis Drive
and Cliff Valley Way off Buford
Highway—has been in discus
sion for months. The rezoning
ordinance was originally in
troduced to the planning com
mission in January and recom
mended for deferral. It came
back to the planning com
mission April 4, where it was
recommended favorably. At
the April 24 city council meet
ing, attorney Carl Westmore
land requested a 30-day defer
ral on behalf of the applicant,
Ardent Companies, saying
Ardent needed more time to
address some issues.
The latest vote defers the de
cision for 90 days, with the next
vote scheduled for Sept. 12. A
group of residents living in the
area gathered at the meeting
and were visibly angered by the
decision to defer. Twenty-nine
homes in the area have been
under contract to sell, and, as
resident Crew Heimer put it
during public comment, their
“lives are in limbo.”
“I wanted to remind you
that your month-by-month
procrastination on this is im
posing severe hardships on
the residents of Bramblewood
Drive,” Heimer said.
He told the council many
residents have delayed major
repairs to their homes, such as
fixing air conditioners, because
they don’t want to invest in a
home that could be torn down.
Heimer said the city is put
ting a “de facto” moratorium
SEE TOWNHOMES ON PAGE 16
Traffic signal upgrades coming to Covington Highway
BY CARLA PARKER
carla@dekalbchamp.com
The Georgia Department
of Transportation (GDOT)
will upgrade traffic signals
at various locations along
Covington Highway.
Senator Tonya Anderson
(D-Lithonia) announced
June that a contract has been
awarded to her district—
District 43— from GDOT.
The amount of the project is
$695,526 and is expected to be
completed September 2019.
“I’m thankful to GDOT
for awarding these projects to
our district,” Anderson said.
“Ensuring that our roads and
traffic signals are up to code is
so important for the safety of
motorists and pedestrians. I
look forward to the completion
of this project and others over
the next few years.”
The project in DeKalb
County, worth over $695,000,
will address the upgrades at
various traffic signals along
Covington Highway. The
project has an estimated
completion date of September
30, 2019. The project in
Rockdale County, worth $4.7
million, will address almost
10 miles of resurfacing on SR
20 north of Milstead Avenue
to the Newton County Line.
The project has an estimated
completion date of March 31,
2019.
Information on schedules,
lane closures and detours will
be made available on GDOT’s
website prior to construction.
NOTICE
The City of Chamblee City Council does hereby announce that the millage rate will be set at a meeting to be held at the Chamblee Civic
Center located at 3540 Broad Street, Chamblee, Georgia on July 2, 2018 at 6:00 PM and pursuant to the requirements of Ga. Code
48-5-32 does herby publish the following presentation of the current year's tax digest and levy, along with the history of the tax digest
and levy for the past five years.
CURRENT 2018 TAX DIGEST AND FIVE YEAR HISTORY OF LEVY
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
Real & Personal
723,574,965
991,264,465
1,123,309,202
1,259,585,995
1,370,128,444
1,542,256,423
Motor Vehicles & Heavy Equipment
27,471,830
23,809,872
20,050,020
15,799,866
13,893,880
8,355,600
Public Utilities
9,726,659
10,289,198
15,151,224
13,476,415
15,092,786
14,634,923
Gross Digest
760,773,454
1,025,363,535
1,158,510,446
1,288,862,276
1,399,115,110
1,565,246,946
Less Exemptions
86,685,769
136,343,322
147,895,254
152,246,821
154,458,202
165,718,780
Adjusted Net Digest
674,087,685
889,020,213
1,010,615,192
1,136,615,455
1,244,656,908
1,399,528,166
Gross Millage Rage
6.4
6.4
6.4
6.4
6.4
6.4
Net Taxes Levied
4,314,161
5,689,729
6,467,937
7,274,339
7,965,804
8,956,980
Net Taxes $ Increase
240,493
1,375,568
778,208
806,402
691,465
991,176
Net Taxes % increase
5.90%
31.88%
13.68%
12.47%
9.51%
12.44%