Georgia's Hands Free Law goes into effect tomorrow! Dunwoody Police Pamphlet

Dunwoody calls Special Called Meeting for 8 am Monday to set 2018 Ad Valorem Tax Rate

Monday, June 18th
Dunwoody City Hall
4800 Ashford Dunwoody Rd

Dunwoody, GA 30338

8:00 a.m. - Watch Live

Agenda

• SECOND READ: Ordinance to Establish the 2018 Ad Valorem Tax Rate

ITEM DESCRIPTION
Public Hearings and Ordinance to establish the 2018 Ad Valorem Tax Rate. 

BACKGROUND
The proposed millage rate is a levy of 2.74 mills or $2.74 for every $1,000 of the assessed value of property (about 40% of the fair market value.) This rate applies to both real property and personal property for businesses. Three public hearings, two advertisements in the Crier, a press release, and posting to our website are all required to adopt the proposed millage rate. Staff has addressed each of these required steps.

Collection of the ad valorem taxes will contribute to General Fund revenues for the general operations of the City including police, public works, community development, and administration; as well as capital projects. Increases in the digest over time should offset inflationary increases in the costs of providing services as well as the costs of new programs approved by Council.

This year’s digest projects a 13.45% increase in revenue (~$1 million) over the prior year. This figure consistently drops throughout the calendar year as appeals are settled. Due to the assessment freeze on homestead property, most of the increase is for commercial property. No one owning a home when Dunwoody incorporated is paying more for the same property as they did in 2009 with this credit. Also, no one who purchased since 2009 is paying more tax than when they acquired their homestead, except in cases where the property was improved. Differences from the budget in property tax revenues will be combined with other variances and subsequently allocated by Council through the normal budgetary process.

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS
Staff recommends adopting the ordinance to establish the 2018 Ad Valorem Tax Rate.

• Approval of Intergovernmental Agreement with DeKalb County for Distribution of 2018 HOST.

• Resolution to Approve the Service Delivery Strategy.

Groovin’ on the Green, the annual concert on the lawn at Pernoshal Park - Saturday 6 pm

Pernoshal Park
4575 N. Shallowford Road
Dunwoody, Georgia

6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

The City of Dunwoody presents, Groovin’ on the Green, the annual concert on the lawn at Pernoshal Park! The concert features Darlington Road, an Atlanta-based band playing a broad spectrum of great music from Chris Stapleton and Michael Jackson to Hall & Oates, the Commodores and everything in between. Pull up a lawn chair or a picnic blanket and enjoy the show! Get your friends, get up and let’s get ‘Groovin’ on the Green!’

Welcome Dr. Donnie Davis, the new Peachtree Charter Middle School Principal in Dunwoody @DeKalbSchools

Dr. Donnie Davis

DeKalb Schools announces Dr. Donnie Davis as the new principal at Peachtree Charter Middle School.
 

With over 10 years of professional experience as an educator at the elementary, middle, and high school levels, Donnie Davis began his career as a classroom teacher and has held a variety of roles since then as a building level administrator.

Most recently, Davis was assistant principal at Henderson Middle School in DeKalb.
He obtained his master’s degree in social studies education from Georgia State University before completing his doctoral degree in educational administration and policy from the University of Georgia’s College of Education in 2012.

Meet & Greet
The Peachtree MS Foundation invites you to join them at Peachtree Charter MS on Wednesday, July 11, 2018, from 5 PM to 6 PM for an opportunity to meet and greet Dr. Davis.

Dunwoody City Council Agenda for Monday June 11th

Monday, June 11th
Dunwoody City Hall
4800 Ashford Dunwoody Rd

Dunwoody, GA 30338

9:00 a.m. - Watch Live

6:00 p.m. - Watch Live

Agenda 9 a.m.

PUBLIC HEARINGS - Ordinance to Establish the 2018 Ad Valorem Tax Rate.

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Agenda 6 p.m.

Recognition of Sergeant Curtis Clifton for Receiving His Bachelor of Science Degree in Government: Public Administration.

Presentation of 1st Quarter Internal Audit by Bill Mulcahy

PUBLIC HEARINGS - Ordinance to Establish the 2018 Ad Valorem Tax Rate.

Resolution Appointing Members to Serve on the Board of Ethics.

Resolution Appointing Members to Serve on the Board of Zoning Appeals.

Resolution Appointing Members to Serve on the Planning Commission.

Resolution Appointing Dunwoody Municipal Court Chief Judge and Judge Pro Tempores.

Brook Run Park Design.

Approval of Intergovernmental Agreement with DeKalb County for Distribution of 2018 HOST?

Resolution to Approve the Service Delivery Strategy.

Dunwoody tax rate has been steady since incorporation but with values rising it is a proposed 13% tax increase this year. Time for our first rollback?

Public Notice

Property taxes are an ad valorem tax, meaning that they are allocated to each taxpayer proportionately according to the value of the taxpayer's property. The millage rate is the rate at which property taxes are levied on property. A mill is 1/1000 of a dollar. Property taxes are computed by multiplying the taxable value of the property by the number of mills levied.

Dunwoody’s millage rate is currently 2.74 mills and has remained constant since the city’s incorporation in 2008. Property taxes are a primary source of funding for Dunwoody and account for about a fourth of the city’s revenues. These funds are used to pay for a variety of services including police; new parks and park improvements; new road construction and other infrastructure projects; and the operations, including salaries, of the city employees and contractors.

The Dunwoody City Council has a decision to make in a few weeks as to the tax rate being levied in 2018 as property valuations have risen and therefore more money will be entering the city treasury.  The Council could either keep the same tax rate or decide to roll it back a bit.

There are two sides of the argument, one is that there are needed improvements within the community be it roads, parks or police services and the additional money could easily go towards those needs and the other side of the coin asks why should the City have an extra million dollars when it wasn't anticipated therefore return the money down to a level to ensure that there is fiscal responsibility in spending policy.

If specific funds are needed for special long term investments (like park development & infrastructure) then there is a mechanism for doing so called a Bond Referendum whereby the city proposes a list of projects with anticipated costs and the citizens decide via an election if they would like to raise their taxes for these specific improvement to be installed sooner rather than later.  The City of John's Creek put forward a parks referendum in order to upgrade parks and turf fields in 2016 and they are now seeing the fruits of the investment.

With the typical Dunwoody real estate bill (here is a 2016 sample) the average Dunwoody homeowner currently pays a little over $200 for the city taxes to cover the services of paving, parks and police and it looks like under the current proposal that could go up an additional $46.00.  The proposed 13.45% raise in revenue is a large jump to grow city general operations in one year therefore I believe community discussions need to be had regarding the possibility of Dunwoody's first ad valorem tax roll back for general operations and a possible bond for long term infrastructure improvements that the community may want now and not installed over time.  Thoughts?

I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this topic therefore all concerned citizens are invited to the public hearing on the proposed ad valorem tax rate to be held at Dunwoody City Hall, 4800 Ashford Dunwoody Road on Monday, June 11th, 2018 at 9:00 a.m. and again at 6:00 p.m.