The city of Atlanta approved its largest development project since the 1960s back in November, but still needed the school district to sign off on a funding plan to help for the $1.9 billion in public subsidies that will support the project.
"The Atlanta school board today approved a deal, derided by some, that would end its fight with the City of Atlanta and allow the use of school property taxes to help pay for the Gulch project," reports Vanessa McCray.
"The deal is a complicated give-and-take with the city that Atlanta Public Schools (APS) Superintendent Meria Carstarphen said amounts to a $130 to $180 million win for the school district," according to McCray. Opponents of the plan, however, say the school district will lose $520 million due to the deal.
"For months, APS and the city have battled over the city’s plan to use school taxes for the Gulch project," according to McCray. "The public financing package includes up to $1.25 billion in future sales taxes plus $625 million in property taxes collected within the Westside Tax Allocation District, or TAD. APS taxes would make up roughly half of those property taxes, with the city and Fulton County chipping in the remainder."
FULL STORY: Atlanta school board approves deal to end its Gulch tax battle with city
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Journal of the American Planning Association