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THE HALLMARK
BUCKHEAD
Brookdale Senior Living
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THE HALLMARK" BUCKHEAD
Independent Living | Assisted Living
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4 | JUNE 14 — JUNE27, 2013 | www.ReporterNewspapers.net
COMMUNITY
Tax plan for proposed fire
department draws heat
JOE EARLE
joeearle@reporternewspapers.net
A plan to allow the city of Dun-
woody to finance a fire department is
producing heat as some residents con
sider the proposal a back-door city tax
increase without the required public
vote.
“To give us, up here, the ability to
raise [fire] taxes 20 percent, I don’t
agree with that,” Dunwoody City
Councilman Denny Shortal said dur
ing the council’s
June 10 meet
ing. “We need to
keep a close eye on
that.”
The debate has
intensified in re
cent weeks as the
Dunwoody Char
ter Commission,
an appointed
group reviewing
the city’s charter,
agreed during its
June 5 meeting to
ask state lawmak
ers to allow the
city to take over
the tax millage res
idents now pay for
fire protection, if
the city ever starts
its own fire depart
ment.
The commis
sion voted 3-2 to
allow Dunwoody
City Council to
increase the fire
millage by up to
20 percent with
out a public vote
in order to cover
costs of a new fire department. Com
mission Chairman Max Lehmann
and Commissioner Rick Otness voted
against the proposal.
Some Dunwoody city officials pro
posed that the city join other nearby
cities and create a new fire department
in north DeKalb County. The multi
city department, they argue, would
provide better service to residents in
the north DeKalb cities than the pres
ent DeKalb County department.
City officials believe they could start
a new multi-city department using
funds raised by the current DeKalb fire
tax millage imposed in the area.
Charter Commissioner Robert Wit-
tenstein, a former city councilman, said
the 20 percent increase would apply
only to the fire tax, not other millages.
And City Manager Warren Hutmacher
said the city would have to have voter
approval to collect more than 120 per
cent of the 3.29 mills the county now
collects for fire services.
About a dozen residents — includ
ing Dunwoody Mayor Mike Davis and
City Councilman Terry Nall, a strong
supporter of the proposed fire depart
ment — attended the charter commis
sion’s June 5 meeting.
The commission’s decisions are not
binding. The five commissioners, ex
pected to continue meeting periodi
cally into September, are reviewing the
city’s charter to see whether any chang
es should be made to improve city op
erations.
They will report
any recommen
dations to state
legislators, who
then will consid
er whether to pres
ent the proposals
to the Legislature,
which would have
to approve any
changes to the
charter.
During the
June 5 meeting,
several residents
spoke against al
lowing the council
to raise the fire tax
millage without a
public vote.
They argued
the city charter
now prohibits any
tax increase above
a tax cap of 3.04
mills without a
public vote. The
city’s now imposes
2.74 mills.
“I am not op
posed to the city
looking into tak
ing on services such as fire, library and
schools, but I am opposed to their do
ing so without voter approval of 50 per
cent plus one,” resident Merry Carmi
chael told the commissioners.
“This commission has eliminated
that right. I want the right to choose
with my vote which of these services I
want to take on. I don’t want it dictat
ed to me.”
Resident Jeanette Smith argued
that “taking things away from DeKalb
County, that’s a slippery slope.”
“How long is the county going to let
us cherry pick [which services we pro
vide]?” she asked. “You keep poking at
the big bear and the bear is going to
eat you.”
Charter Commissioner Beverly
Wingate said the city should be able to
move quickly if it starts a fire depart
ment.
“I don’t think we re doing something
terrible to our citizens by doing this,”
she said. “I’m very concerned about
the fire department and I’m concerned
about the delivery of county services.”
“To give us, up here, the
ability to raise [fire] taxes
20 percent, I don’t agree
with that. We need to keep
a close eye on that.”
- DENNY SHORTAL
DUNWOODY CITY COUNCILMAN
DUN
