Dear GPA Planners,

On July 10, 2006 the first in a series of Town Hall Meetings was held on the draft Georgia Statewide Water Planning process with additional meetings are planned this week around the state. For more information see the Georgia Statewide Water Planning website at http://www.gadnr.org/gswp/

Dan Reuter, AICP
President

For your information, links to the Georgia Statewide Transportation Plan and Energy Plan (under development) plus others are available on the GPA website. In the absence of a coordinated statewide growth plan, I think it would be useful for GPA members to consider how these various statewide plans are related.

Planners Book Club – It's Back!

We've had a long hiatus, and I know there are some of you out there who are longing for some good summer reading. As you may recall, summer is the time for our fiction selection. Past summer titles include: Revolutionary Road, Invisible Cities, If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things, and Ask the Dust. Considering all of the movies this summer targeted to children about urban development (Hoot and Over the Hedge), thought we might want to explore this genre.

The Planners Book Club book club selection is Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington. Meeting time is 7:00 pm at the Caffe Centrale Bar located at 1210 Howell Mill Rd, Atlanta, GA on August 28, 2006.

As always, if you know of anyone who'd be interested in joining us, please refer to me. The more the merrier. I look forward to hearing from you and meeting again.

Best,

Kristen Wescott
URS Corporation
kristen_wescott@urscorp.com

July 21st

GPA Planners' Lunch discussion topic is the Atlanta Beltline, Atlanta, GA. Please download the registration form HERE or visit our webpage HERE for more information.

July 21st

GPA Board Meeting, TBA Please contact: tdunnavant@cityofnewnan.org

July 21st

What You Need to Know about Public Records & Open Meetings in Georgia, Atlanta, GA Visit the website: www.lorman.com

August 28th

Planners Book Club meeting to discuss the book club selection Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington. Meeting time is 7:00 pm at the Caffe Centrale Bar located at 1210 Howell Mill Rd, Atlanta, GA. Please contact: Kristen Wescott at 678-808-8830 or email kristen_wescott@urscorp.com

Visit the GPA Calendar of Events website page for a full listing...

District 3 – Tax Allocation Districts (“TADs”)

by David C. Kirk, AICP

Tax Allocation Districts (“TADs”) are funding mechanisms made available under state law for communities wishing to implement redevelopment plans. Before a community may create a TAD, it must first be authorized (by local legislation and local referendum) to exercise redevelopment powers pursuant to Georgia’s Redevelopment Powers Law. It then must prepare a detailed redevelopment plan which must be adopted by the local governing body, which also creates the TAD through ordinance or resolution. To the extent other taxing entities (such as counties or school boards) are willing to support the TAD by foregoing future tax revenue increases, the formal consent of such entities is required. Within the redevelopment area/TAD all tax revenues collected by taxing entities are held at current levels and any incremental taxes are used to offset costs of the new development anticipated by the redevelopment plan. In this way, the local government can improve infrastructure in advance of development or offer other financial incentives to new developments consistent with the redevelopment plan. Over time, as tax revenues increase due to new development, the bonds can be retired and increased tax revenues can eventually flow back to the various taxing entities which initially consented to the TADs formation.

The ability of TADs to create new development is readily apparent in the Atlanta region (District 3.) The widely acclaimed Atlantic Station development would not have been possible without the creation of a TAD which supported, among other things, infrastructure improvements and environmental remediation. Perhaps the most talked about use of a TAD in the Atlanta area is to support the implementation of the BeltLine Redevelopment Plan, a 22-mile corridor of parks, greenways, transit and transit-oriented development. The City of Atlanta is also using TADs as an economic stimulus in other areas, including development around Centennial Olympic Park (Westside TAD), the Eastside TAD is supporting redevelopment of the historic Sweet Auburn area (Eastside TAD), and another district covers 400 acres in southwest Atlanta (Princeton Lakes TAD.) Elsewhere in the region, the City of East Point created a TAD which helped support the development of a recently opened major retail center along with up to five million square feet of future office-distribution facilities. Likewise, the City of Alpharetta is proposing the use of a TAD to partially fund construction of two parking decks, a 1-acre public plaza and two roads that are components of the Alpharetta City Center development. In addition, DeKalb County has created two TADs to help revitalize the area surrounding the now-abandoned Avondale Mall and other portions of the Memorial Drive Corridor.