Local Control

Not complete local control, but more control than a particular government bureaucracy would like. The bureaucracy in question? City Schools of Decatur. It is worth noting that this limited control is being thrust upon them by the State. That's right, the State Legislature is forcing local control, via the ballot box, on a local government. Expect the local government to fight back on the basis of the State being outsiders, and local control is them doing whatever the hell they want, but the ballot box is just a bridge too far.

This is all about Senate Bill 625 which will force a referendum for any bond issuance exceeding $20M and seems to be targeting a CSD request for a $52M bond. Not perfect, but clearly better than a government bureaucracy run amok. Ideally, any bond issue should require voter approval, and consider this: schools have no problem coming to the voters with hat in hand when they want a SPLOST. Probably because they must. 

Citizens of Dunwoody should take note. This is what local control looks like.

Stretching Credulity

We wouldn't be here were it not for a period of mass insanity, or just an intense wave of polyannishness, quite a while ago, but here we are. And where is that?

Destruction from within.

The bureaucrats, and at least one elected official, trying to figure out how to walk away from foundational commitments to fiscal prudence, and modify the city charter to allow them to up taxes when they want, however much they want. 

One elected official has espoused the view that these changes are a "back door" tax increase, while another asserts it is a full frontal assault. Perhaps they are both right. It is a back door if by that you mean that bureaucrats can raise taxes without putting that to a citizens' vote. This is what is being proposed in the case of special tax districts, capital bonds and "revenue bonds" which sound a lot like payday loans and probably as responsible. Another perspective is this is being writ large in black and white, so there is no back door to it at all, this is pushing the ballot box out of the way by force. 

This does raise some questions, especially for those who "fell for it" back in the day. Is this what you were promised to get your vote? Didn't think so. And what about those special task districts? What do you think will happen there? Very likely you will see a growing number of them, not necessarily restricted to commercial districts. Imagine this: some bureaucrats decide that if folks in residential areas want cops to ticket speeders in their neighborhood, well, then, they'll call that a special tax district, jack up the taxes, and then maybe, just maybe, actually write some tickets. Or, maybe not. After all that is what they promised to do to get your vote. And, money is fungible, so they'll just be displacing the other tax revenues to their playthings. 

This has gotten out of [our] control.

The only voice of reason, the only ounce of integrity at city hall comes from King John. You would do well to listen to him.

The Truth, ...

...the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. 

There's been a bit of point-counterpoint going on between the city's head cheerleader and one of the founding councilmen playing out in the blue bag rag. It is over the issue of property tax. The meaning of property tax is crucial to any reasonable comprehension of what is circulating, so we'll look at that later. First some context. 

The head cheerleader, who is one of those politicos that loves to say "we didn't raise the property tax rate", is now saying "Dunwoody taxes to remain unchanged," with the assertion this is "No Spin." Now the context of this is property taxes, and as a revenue item, property taxes on homestead exemption eligible properties in the city is up this year over last, as it has been almost every year. This is the observation made earlier by the founding councilman, and it is absolutely true. However, if you close one eye, hold your mouth right and live in the alternate reality of politics, what the head cheerleader asserts can be viewed as true. 

It all depends on your understanding of "property tax." 

In the head cheerleader's world, "property tax" is yours, and if it is, then the taxable base value of your home is indeed frozen at the value in 2010 or at the time of your purchase. So how is it that the founding councilman can be correct? 

It's actually quite simple. It is not your tax, because the city is taxing property, not you. That's why it is called "property tax." You may be deceived by the fact that you write the check and that makes it your tax, and some folks would like you to think that way. It isn't and it's actually quite easy to understand. First, you will find, if you try, that they don't care from where or from whom they get the money. Your rich mother-in-law could write the check and bet your bottom dollar, they will cash it. Or, if that doesn't convince you that this is not a tax on you, but instead is a tax on property you own, try this: don't pay it. See what happens. Do they garnish your wages? Nope. Do they dip into your accounts? No. Do they bring in the big guns, the IRS, to take your money that way? Absolutely not. So, what do they do? They will auction that property on the courthouse steps to get their money. That's what they do, because they are taxing the property. Period. Hard stop.

And that is why the head cheerleader can stand in front of folks owning homestead exemption eligible property and say "your property taxes remain unchanged," and it is true if you accept the [incorrect] notion that this is a personal tax. The fact (that must be disclosed by state law) that the city's property tax on homestead exemption eligible property increases without a milage rate increase casts an unfavorable light on "unchanged." 

So who is winning the war of words? Well, if this were is a sporting event, the founding councilman looks like a veteran sports analyst and the head cheerleader looks like she'll shake her pompoms at whatever her team does on the field, no matter how bad that is. 

Turns out you don't get your own facts, but you do get to spin your own truth.

Hasty Retreat

Why is it that city bigwigs must run off somewhere (other than here) to talk the big talk and plan the big plans? Is that because there'll not be very many citizens OF Dunwoody there? Of course the big, if not the biggest topic was how they take more of your money. Does greed know any limits?

Apparently not.

Their biggest debate wasn't whether to pilfer your purse or not, but rather how to do it. One proposal was to simply raise the millage rate by removing the current limit by ordinance, IE: without your vote. The other was to create "special" tax district, in an effort to disguise a tax as something else. One is what we're accustomed to, politicians raising taxes, and the other a bit more clever, raising taxes by adding a new mechanism, and allowing the political prevarication of staying under the millage limit. Wait until they disclose this is not either-or and they do both. 

Unlike Atlanta where Dickens has asked for departments to report on the impact of 5%, 7.5% and 10% budget cuts, Dunwoody fixates on higher taxes. Clearly, city staffing, operational costs and mission has expanded without much in the way of  restraint. And why should there be any restrain? Spending OPM is fun, and gives staffers increasingly valuable connections. And we, as voters, have been asleep at the wheel, electing promise-breakers who are addicted to spend-then-tax. Shame on them, but not without shame on us. 

But there are other options, ones this city would consider their kryptonite, but should be up for discussion nonetheless. How about we stop giving enormous tax breaks to developers? After all we're sitting on some of the hottest property in the southeast, and they should be competing for the chance to build here. In fact, they should be paying. It's called "impact fees," and developers should be paying for the costs their, highly profitable, development imposes on existing taxpayers. Have you heard mayor or council suggest anything faintly resembling this? Didn't think so. 

Make Them Pay Their Fair Share

The drumbeat of the left. Make billionaires pay "their fair share." But...they have an exception, and that would be the equally leftist private universities. Harvard is sitting on a $53bn endowment. Yale, $42bn. Stanford and Princeton, let's call it $37bn. Now at a mere 4% yield on their endowment, Harvard is pulling in over $2.1bn per year. Rest assured, their investments return more than 4%.

Republicans want these billionaires to pay their fair share. They generously allot $200,000 in assets per student tax free (down from $500,000) and want to garner a 21% tax rate, up from 1.5%. Seems more than fair. Others want to see the rate at 35%, more in line with what the left wants other billionaires to pay. The left conveniently ignores the fact that many of these universities siphon over 50% of NIH grant funds, dumping the money in the general fund, allowing them to divert other monies into growing their endowment.

But the left remains steadfastly against these billionaires paying their fair share, suggesting the tax collected, likely only a few hundred million dollars, is "laughable." You gotta wonder how many working class stiffs paying out a few tens of thousands think their taxes are hilarious.

Trojan Horse

Last year voters, the wee people, approved the referendum on HB 581 establishing a floating homestead tax exemption. In DeKalb it was a bit of a landslide garnering 52% approval. None of these voters are elected DeKalb officials or hired bureaucrats. So these folks, elected and hired, would really, really like to opt out. Which is allowed. 

But...

Opting out kicks in some procedure changes around sales taxes, of which we have a few here in DeKalb. It is really painful as the EHOST is conjoined with a SPLOST and when combined with other local sales taxes, exceeds the 2% limit that opting out would incur.

Oh, the humanity!

The county's lobbyist, yes, they have a lobbyist, is down at the gold dome trying to get a legislative loophole put in place. Nothing will deter them from getting their hands on more of your money.

Promises, Promises

The Whitehouse has recently confirmed that Joe Biden, our current president, will in fact pardon his own son of whatever crimes the poor boy has committed, admitted or been convicted of. As Gomer Pyle would say: Surprise, Surprise! Now that the election is over we are back to politics as usual, using power and privilege for personal benefit. But was Gomer right, or was that sarcasm? Let's go with the latter, after all this is the same man who went to the rail for crackers and wine, and then went out advocating for what that very church sees as a critical moral issue. One his Pope says he falls on the wrong side of. Or, keeping it secular, he also swore to uphold the constitution and then took actions he confessed he knew were unconstitutional. Wrong. Knew it. Did it anyway. Why? Because he's a politician of the worst sort. Party above morals. Party above country. 

Don't think for a minute that politicians of this ilk have been rounded up and locked in the internment camp we call Washington, D.C. We have them right here.

The folks that marketed, supported, and campaigned for passing the city referendum were, and are, politicians. And they lied. They lied when they instituted a millage rate cap saying it would not increase without passing a referendum. And they knew it. The Home Rule Act was adopted in 1965 and they knew this could be used to make significant changes to the city charter without voter approval. The cities' industry lobbying group, the Georgia Municipal Association, contends this act makes the prior "political commitment" as easily erased as the memory of a politician making such a commitment. It seems the bureaucrats at city hall are working diligently to erase any restrictions on their spend-then-tax approach to empire building. Mayor and council seem largely supportive, and why not? They are politicians.

It's Not What You Say

And it isn't how you say it. It's what you don't say.

Case in point: not too long ago a city councilman was quoted in the Blue Bag Rag as saying "there is a lot of demand for services," without any evidence to back that up. How are the "demands" issued? To whom? Exactly who gets these? Name. Position. Who? Where can we get a copy of these demands? Where is the process for issuing demands documented? Is it publicly available? What is the definition of "a lot?" In the absence of clear, on point answers to these and other questions we're left to conclude we've just been treated to another politician spouting political bullshit in support of something that is out of touch with the public. But of course, nothing was said about this.

The same Rag has the City Manager confessing that staff are looking into any and every way they can possibly jack up the millage ceiling, with a rate hike to immediately follow. A favored approach is for the city management (bureaucrats) to bypass a referendum and unilaterally change the charter, eliminating the ceiling. There is also some blather about avoiding a decrease in city services. OK, what isn't said is how many of these "services" are the result of profligate spending of one-time COVID funds. Of course not. That would suggest that these "services" should go away, so let's not bring that up.

This "we don't need no stinkin' referendum" scheme was discussed on social media (surprise, surprise). The mayor chimed in and at no point clearly and definitively stated that there would be no rate hike, no ceiling lifted without a referendum, as was promised when the city was being sold to the voters. Instead, the mayor was crying poor-mouth because the founders of this city committed, then and for the future, that this city would be limited and spending would stay under control. The political blather sank into a claim that the State Farm complex would have been apartments were it not for the city, and yet, because of the city they're building apartment towers at State Farm. Can any politician put together two sentences without a contradiction? And nothing was said about keeping commitments made to the voters. There was something said about "solving this" (whatever that means) before leaving office, but that assumes there won't be a recall vote. If citizens must demand that their voices be heard at the ballot box do not be surprised if they rise up and do so.

Full Court Press

And it is by the press. The Blue Bag Rag, the official organ of Dunwoody, has run yet another front page article about how this city is not raising the property tax rate. And this one comes with a byline. 

Makes you wonder, doesn't it? Why are they yammering and hammering this point? We all know they maxed out the legally allowable tax rate years ago. Without going to the voters they cannot raise the millage rate. This is about the only time, and the only issue where they actually respect the electorate. So what's up? Is this prepping for some tax finagling like setting up some special tax allocation district so they can raise taxes without our approval? Are they trying to rebuild trust credibility after their disastrous attempt to sneak through Shining PATH taxes claiming these were for parks?

We only know this: if they could have raised the millage rate, they would have, and then we'd not get flooded with these repeat articles.

Obits And Police Blotters

What do these things have in common? These are the two items in a newspaper that are generally published without a byline. The content is often sourced, in whole or part, from outside the news organization and while these are both legitimately news and informative they are not really products of the paper, though they may be edited for length and clarity. Or they may not. 

This week's Blue Bag Rag came with an interesting front page "news article." What makes it interesting? Not the content as it is politico boiler plate whenever the city commits the sin of omission by neglecting to  change to a roll-back millage rate. They continually harp on "we didn't raise the property tax rate" while standing idly by as the actual taxes go up. Nothing to see here.

To be fair, that is the actual fact. They didn't use the roll back rate, but they didn't increase it either, perhaps because they're at the legal limit. And if you look at their planning you will notice something of interest.

No Intention Of Reining In Costs

What residents, what voters, what taxpayers should be focusing on is not [just] the annual mandatory tax hike, but the profligate, ever increasing spending at city hall, staffed by bureaucrats who are completely out of control. Perhaps it is time to elect folks with the stomach, and the spine, to make the changes necessary to meet the original promise of financial responsibility.

Watch Them Tapdance

Property digest assessments are coming out and we get to watch the annual tap dance of our circus clowns as they flop around trying to convince taxpayers that they, these politicians, did not actually raise our taxes. Actually, they did. You see, in the absence of a "roll back millage rate" the total tax digest goes up, the government (pick one, city, schools, or county) taxes do go up. 

Now you can expect to hear either little or nothing from our local politicos, or perhaps you'll hear about an assessment freeze. This freeze only applies if you have a homestead exemption on your Dunwoody property, so if this isn't the case, your taxes will go up, perhaps significantly, every year. And, if you rent, well, that homestead exemption doesn't apply, and while you do not see the taxes itemized on your lease (perhaps you should) you are indeed paying these taxes and suffering from the annual increases. Given city hall's recent love affair with rental units, increasing by the hundreds, more and more voters are suffering from the city's annual tax increase. 

When properties sell, and they do, even in Dunwoody, the value marks to market so the purchaser is likely in for a hell of a surprise when they start paying two, three or four times in taxes above what the seller was paying. Oh, and for that, they still will not see traffic enforcement in our drive thru zones. They'll just pay more to not get the same services the seller wasn't getting. 

Welcome to Dunwoody.

A Real Unicorn

Tis the season for all things property tax with an Annual Notice of Assessment coming to a mailbox near you. It is worthy to note that these mailings generally arrive to the proper address in a timely fashion. But wait, there's more:

How Did THAT Happen?

You are reading that right. This year's appraised value is $46,300 LOWER than last year. That's a 7.9% decrease from 2023. If this happens very often, what will become of our politicians' favorite tax increase, where they stick it to you using the back door? Will the city file appeals? Other than losing, what are all their lawyers doing? Oh, that's right, they're pissing away our tax dollars.

Guest Post: Pound The Table

When a lawyer cannot make a case they pound the table. This seems to be in the hopes that the loudest, perhaps even the most outrageous will win. Hell, it worked once for Trump, maybe it will work for you. 

With the parks referendum we are back to the same place we were with the citihood referendum. On the one side are those insisting that we just must have this money but offering fairly weak transparency. Yes, the city has a "vision" and a "master plan" but have not given a detailed, prioritized list of exactly what they intend to spend this money on. And it is all or none, take it or leave it. To be fair, all of their masterplans include the need for consultants to help them come up with an operational plan: the one that is actually executed. So when you need outside help to plan how to plan don't expect much of the master plan beyond statements of "wouldn't this be cool" and "yes, this is gonna cost lots of money, but it's for the future, for your kids and grandkids." Honestly they may still be paying off the debt (Pew slots us all into 18 year generations, and just wait, someone will use the phrase "generational opportunity" if they haven't already). Because the case for "give us $60M today which will cost you $90M+ over time and a 53% tax increase" is not universally compelling they've fallen back on the tried and true: demean your opposition. 

DONT should really be DON'T

There are some problems with this. It suggests that any criticism of their desires must come from some crusty curmudgeons, nattering nabobs of negativity. If that's true this may backfire as it might piss them off enough to come down from the balcony and vote. Not your way. It ignores the possibility that nabobs may see the similarity between the most recent eSPLOST and this referendum. Lack of specificity, an implicit "you must trust us" vibe, and the ever popular "it's for the children." Combine this with the structural similarities between the school system and the city and it is hard not to throw up just a little bit in your mouth when you hear these proposals. Memory and juxtaposition is a bitch. And worst is the false implication that if you're against this referendum then you are against parks. This is a deception, a lie. It is also a tactic. And not one befitting the kind of intelligent discourse voters in Dunwoody deserve.  

Who's Gonna Tell

Finally. A vote that matters. It's called a referendum and it is what this city's officials would like to avoid at all costs much preferring well curated "community input." To no one's surprise we're seeing the kind of full court press not seen since the days when Dunwoody Yes! and Citizens for Dunwoody touted a study saying this city could run on $18 million a year. These folks want to go all Wimpy and get their hands on $60 million today for which they will gladly pay $200 million over the next twenty years. Or more precisely, they'd like everyone to pay. 

That's where the vote comes in and with it the lobbying. If you're interested you can find the city's promo here and the other aficionados argument here and those advocating deferred gratification here. We've not had entertainment like this since we had clowns running around saying it isn't another layer of government. Turns out they were right since if you don't enforce laws and ordinances it isn't a real government. 

Makes You Miss The Pandemic

Here is a shocker: the city was forced, by law, to fess up to yet-another-tax-increase. No surprises there. 

Like A Broken Record

The only relief taxpayers have experienced was due to the CoVid-19 pandemic. Lord knows there will be no relief offered by city hall. In fact with that very minimal respite from their back door tax increased encourage them to up the millage rate to the legal max. This will change, upward, if they get their way with the "parks and paths" referendum. Just look at the trajectory. 

Damn Near 20% Increase With Millage Hike

If you still hold on to the hope of a revenue neutral millage rate each year then you are a either a pollyannish fool or an idiot. If you think there is a snowball's chance in hell of zero based budgeting you are certifiable. If you think what these scoundrels have been doing is a good thing, you are the problem.

Will The Law Win?

Law, at least as enshrined in the Constitution, is under serious attack by the current administration. The GAO reports that three Biden administration officials retain office illegally. Everything done in those administrations while headed by an illegal official will be at risk for legal challenge. Looks like the law doesn't apply to our top law enforcement officer. And the law is going to lose. 

Not happy with waiting for the Supreme Court decision on school loan bailouts (he will lose), the administration now plans to up the income level for shifting loan payments from the borrower to, well, everyone else. This is bad for everyone but colleges and universities who can continue bloat with other peoples' money. It will also encourage those who probably shouldn't go in the first place to give it a try. And it definitely encourages fuzzy degrees (think: sociology and gender studies) over more practical studies (think: engineering) as the sociology major may pay ten percent of her debt while the engineer will pay all of hers. This is clearly a case of executive over-reach. It is the legislature's job to make these changes, but who's going to stop him?

To make things worse, for many who will pick up the tab for these bailouts, Biden intends to unleash his bulked-up army of IRS agents to squeeze every last penny out of folks who work for tips. That's right, buy votes from folks who spent six years at a college party and pay for it by squeezing blood from the hardest working amongst us. Here, he may actually be on solid legal footing. It's just plain wrong. 

Where Is The Power?

This city is out of [our] control. We now have parts of our community signing petitions to block the destruction of their neighborhoods by bureaucrats at city hall. And it seems these bureaucrats have the power:

"According to the residents, although several council members have told the homeowners that they support its removal, the trail remains in the proposed plans."

The citizenry's only tool is the ballot box: our chance to elect proper and faithful representation. Except it doesn't work because the city charter explicitly prevents our elected representatives from direct, operational action. Which is why we get diversionary blather:

“Public input is an important part of master planning for our parks...For the park at Vermack, we began listening to feedback more than a year ago, and we continued that process with Saturday’s open house. We take all comments to heart in working toward a final concept.”

Isn't that nice? Wonderful that a city bureaucrat would lower himself to listen to the little people. But you know what? That "trail" is not coming out of the plan and it is going to get built because there are bigger plans in the works. Far bigger than a parks "master plan."

Ask yourself "what can the mayor or council do?" Then go ask them. If they're honest you will learn that the last time anyone in this city had a vote that mattered it was when the referendum to form the city passed. Since then everything in this city is at the hands of city bureaucrats, a growing band of vandals.

And next year they will sneak in another referendum to raise taxes for a bond that is almost twice the original city budget used in sales pitches for the first referendum. Don't screw this one up.

Tough Going

The spinmeisters at city hall are aflutter. That said, most of what they say is just because they fell like they have to say something. They've proposed a budget with a baked-in deficit despite an over 10% increase in the millage rate suggesting that yet-another millage increase is in their plans. 

Well, that one is obvious as they decided that a mid-term election year with guaranteed high turnout is not the best time to present the voters with a referendum that perforce includes a millage rate bump. At least if you want to get your hands on that money. And they do. So they'll sneak that one in during vacay season in '23. 

Since there seems no oversight or other control at city hall to rein in the bureaucrats and their addiction to budget bloat we can expect millage rate increases on an ongoing basis. Not surprising since we've had nothing but tax increases since this city was founded.

Call A Cop

Reports are indicating a shortage of badge-wielders in the North Atlanta suburbs (it doesn't matter what they say to get their hands on grant money, Dunwoody is a suburb) and Dunwoody is in direct competition with some, well, shall we say, better managed  cities. The irony of The Smart City being out-smarted is lost on few and surprises no one.

Explanations and excuses abound but as is governments' wont it becomes just another excuse to raise taxes. As you're probably aware Dunwoody has never seen a year without a tax increase and has recently rubbed salt with a millage increase justified by, you guessed it, police un-de-funding. While some funds are directed towards salary increases (for the entire army of bureaucrats) they did not do the right thing: dedicate all revenue garnered by this millage increase towards PD spending. Even if they did they would simply claw back any, perhaps all, of the revenue currently supporting public safety. 

Earlier this year Billy-Bob Grogan trotted on-trend accusations against the de-fund the police movement and there is some merit to that. But he's also revealed what is likely the primary reason: they are leaving for other jobs, other careers. And why wouldn't they? Billy-Bob, with the unwavering support of his boss, has created a toxic work environment, a captive porno den that would make Larry Flynt jealous. The kind of work environment that spawns award-winning whistle-blowers. 

Honestly, the problem is not difficult unless you make it unnecessarily so with lack of honesty. The city should have asked and answered, directly, completely and truthfully, a very simple question: what problem are you trying to solve? If the problem is under achievement of the primary commitment made when the city was formed, public safety, then more money may be in order. Determine exactly what that number is and figure where to get that money. The next step is to calculate, in the current budget, how many mils are dedicated to public safety. That number is the baseline and any further millage increase would be added to that to bring public safety spending to the level necessary to meet the original commitment. Obviously an enhancement would be to cut the enormous fat from the bloated bureaucracy, freeing funds for rank and file members of the police force because they really should be paid a living wage.

No Place To Hide

As predicted council voted to increase the millage rate and now there is no political cover. In the past council and mayors excused their consistent, non-stop tax increases by saying "we did not increase the tax...rate." Ahem. Now they have blown that cover and the mayor, as required by city bureaucrats, is out front trying to sugarcoat their stupidity. Isn't going well. Mostly because of dearth of data and the enormous distance between truth and what is said. 

The first thing greased out is the property value freeze. OK. Want to back that up with some data? You DO have an overpaid army of bureaucrats at city hall, maybe one could pull together a quick analysis of residential property (developers' property pays no taxes) showing percentage of residential digest vs years of ownership. Because, as you know homes mark-to-market whenever they sell so the excuse of frozen assessments should be easily backed by data, right? Unless the data actually tell a completely different story. What do these data say, mayor? Are you suggesting there have been no houses sold in Dunwoody in the last 11-12 years? Because that's what it sounds like.

Next excuse? Police. No kidding, really? The Dunwoody PD. This is where it goes from "you can't handle the data" to "you're too stupid to not believe this." Scary thing is, she may be right. But by stepping far outside the realm of credibility with "public safety is City Council’s primary responsibility" nothing that follows can be believed. If this had one iota of truth to it the mayor and council would look to the south, to Atlanta, to see how they are handling force shortages: community policing and quality of life enforcement. Want to give that a try, mayor? Want to address the real, morale crushing issues with PD command? Didn't think so.

Or how about you do what every business in the USA is doing right now: right-size your workforce; focus on your core charter; put a stop to the metastatic bureaucratic bloat; and stop giving tax handouts to developers. Get. Your. House. In. Order. Or is that beyond your ability? If so, step aside and let someone more capable take the reins.