Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. the City of Dunwoody will host a town hall meeting at the Kingsley Racquet & Swim Club to discuss funding capital projects desired by various aspects of the community and the funding options for doing so. With escalating costs and a semi-fixed revenue stream of property tax revenue, the Dunwoody City Council is weighing the option of placing a general obligation bond referendum in front of the voters for decision come November 2022. This meeting (and several more following next week) will give the community a scope of the ask in both a sense of the projects that could be funded, a price for construction as well as the ongoing operational costs of the projects. The list that will be provided at the Tuesday meeting is only for discussion as to what could be possible in a specific time frame if funds were available. Other ideas and suggestions from the community are welcome and the list is in no way a guarantee of the items on Tuesday's list being completed.
There will be a brief presentation by the financial advisor of the bond process, (the link is from a previous presentation and may be different from what is provided Tuesday) and its potential financial impact on typical households in the City of Dunwoody. At the City Retreat, Council and staff started out with a list of 95 possible capital projects and with the Council along with staff determining what was reasonably feasible to construct, whittled that possible list down to a much smaller number that is either Parks or Transportation related.
I believe there will also be a presentation by staff on the ongoing operational costs of running a city and the level of service residents that desire. This presentation may or may not outline the issue of fixed home valuations when a homestead exemption is in place and the fact that our current millage rate of 2.74 has a maximum set by our Charter to 3.04. These issues along with an additional 1 mil homestead tax exemption reverts the typical homeowner city millage tax rate to 1.74 and the City of Dunwoody has successfully maintained that same tax rate for 13 years since the date of incorporation.
After City presentations, there will then be public comment for input from the citizens to members of the City Council about capital project priorities and citizens may even express their preferences on how to fund them. The plan is to let each individual speak for three minutes with answers provided to citizen's questions where possible.
I am guessing there will be opinions both pro and con on this bond idea and I can tell you that even members of City Council may have mixed feelings therefore this is your opportunity to weigh in. The role of the City Council on Tuesday is to explain the referendum, explain the types of projects that might be completed with the funds and if the referendum is ever approved by Council, explain why they approved the calling of the election. If this idea moves forward, all Dunwoody citizens registered to vote will have the ability to weigh in as to the future funding of capital projects.
As I have had the pleasure of serving on the City Council for the last 13 years, I can tell you that until this time we have saved our collective revenue and completed projects as the funding would allow and we have been very good stewards of your tax dollars. Now with interest rates still being very low but construction prices rising, it may be a good time to switch our funding philosophy over to a bond as there may be long term cost benefit savings vs paying for future amenities over many years with rising prices. With a close eye on appropriate spending, this too could also prove to show us as good stewards of your tax dollars.
The other benefit of issuing the bond is that money is collected, a park or amenity is installed and the residents paying off those bonds actually get to enjoy or use that amenity while they are paying for it. In saving for the amenity instead of bonding, the residents are paying into a project fund (let's say an intersection improvement) for 10 years, dealing with the problem and the traffic and when finally installed many residents would have been paying into that capital project fund for years without ever seeing the benefit. The example of parks might be even more striking as many residents want a vibrant active community and we on Council want the same, but if we are forced to save for some of these parks projects, our children may be grown and gone.
I am truly excited for the Future of the City of Dunwoody, new residents are moving in every day, our home prices are soaring to new highs, businesses are successful, restaurants are filling up, and residents are now comparing us to our neighbors where they have expanded amenities therefore they want the same expanded level of service. The Dunwoody City Council is working to provide funding options for those desired amenities therefore if this idea does make it on to the ballot, no matter the final decision of the electorate, I will strive to continue making Dunwoody the best place to live. Thanks,
John
PS: next week's meetings are listed below and will be held from 6 – 8 p.m.
Tuesday, May 24
Dunwoody City Hall
4800 Ashford Dunwoody Road
Wednesday, May 25
N. Shallowford Annex
4470 N. Shallowford Road
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