Double Taxation – the fallacy of pension legacy costs.
I am writing to alert you to a potential property tax increase coming from the Georgia General Assembly. House Bill 711, sponsored by Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Druid Hills), seeks to add a special tax district to cities formed after 2005. Rep. Oliver believes that newly formed cities owe, what she refers to as, “pension legacy costs”. The notion that these legacy costs exist is false and here’s why.
- Newly formed cities continue to pay fully into the General Fund and the Fire Fund. Embedded in these funds are the costs for benefits, including pensions for the employees providing these services.
- Newly formed cities continue to pay fully into the self-sustaining funds of Sanitation and Watershed. Embedded in these funds are the costs for benefits, including pensions for the employees providing these services.
- DeKalb County lowered the millage rate for the Police Fund (a fund newly formed cities do not pay into) in the 2015 budget.
- DeKalb County did not reform the pension benefit system until December 2015 – 7 years after the formation of Dunwoody.
- DeKalb County used unrealistic actuarial assumptions that negatively impacted funding.
If DeKalb County believed there was a crisis in the pension plan, chiefly driven by the new cities no longer paying into the police fund, why would the county lower the police fund millage rate in 2015? If the county believed that the crisis was caused by newly formed cities, why did pension reform not occur until just a few months ago in December of 2015?
House Bill 711 is only directed at newly formed cities. It is punitive, based on false assumptions, and is not congruent with the facts. Make no mistake about it, it is a discriminatory tax aimed at Brookhaven and Dunwoody. It is a bailout that would allow DeKalb County to continue poor fiscal management. It creates a liability for new residents and business for a service they never received. Imagine an entirely new property tax layered onto the commercial engine of the region – the Perimeter market – and the affect that would have on business, growth, and sales tax revenue to the county, schools, and state. House Bill 711 is wrong and would have dire economic consequences for the region and state if passed.
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House Bill 711 is currently in the House Governmental Affairs Committee. Here is a list of emails for the members of that committee and the committee staff.
craig.foster@house.ga.gov (Policy Analyst)
michelle.spearman@house.ga.gov (Admin. Assistant)
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Understanding DeKalb’s Millage rate system
First, DeKalb County’s millage rate isn’t one millage rate that funds all aspects of the county. DeKalb’s total millage rate is actually the sum of various component millage rates. I often refer to these individual rates as “buckets”. Here’s a list of some of the “buckets” for which you may pay a millage rate:
- General Fund – This funds services that are provided county-wide like the court system, sheriff, libraries, etc.. It is the largest fund and every resident in DeKalb, including all cities, pays the rate for this fund.
- Fire Fund – This funds the Fire Department that is used by the unincorporated parts of the county, as well as most of the cities, included Dunwoody, Brookhaven, Chamblee, Doraville, etc.
- Police Fund – This funds the DeKalb Police Department for unincorporated DeKalb and any city that elects to use this service.
- Roads and Drainage – This funds roads and drainage services to the county and any city that elects to use this county service.
- Parks and Recreation – This funds parks and recreation services to the county and any city that elects to use this county service.
- There are also debt service rates that are apportioned county-wide and otherwise pursuant to their issuance.
- House Bill 711 proposes to add a new “bucket” that would be filled only by cities formed after 2005.
Sanitation and watershed services are self-sustaining and charge a fee-for-service for unincorporated county residents as well as residents of cities. Newly formed cities have all continued using DeKalb as their sanitation service provider. Water is only provided by the county so all cities use, and pay, for this service.
Planning and Sustainability is a self-sustaining, fee-for-service fund that provides the plan review services to residents and builders who need permits. This area also handles business licensing services. Dunwoody and Brookhaven now provide this service as a city.
Since the incorporation of Dunwoody and Brookhaven, residents of these cities have continued to pay fully into the General Fund, the Fire Fund, the appropriate debt service, and they continue to pay into the self-sustaining funds of sanitation and watershed. So, the only services that these cities no longer receive, or pay for, from the county that are funded by property tax millage rates are: (1) Police, (2) Roads and drainage, and (3) Parks and Recreation.
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