City Wants Fair Share of Sales Tax Revenue

There is a battle of sorts looming between the mayors of North Fulton and Fulton County over the Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) that involves millions of dollars.

The mayors in North Fulton want the tax revenues to be divided by the population of each city. For the last 10 years, the county and its municipalities have been splitting the revenues generated from a penny sales tax.  

“Fulton county is currently 90 percent municipalized and the original intent of LOST is no longer the same,” explained Johns Creek Mayor Mike Bodker. The main purpose for the funds was for roads and services for municipal-like areas of the county.

He added, “You can’t look at the past if it’s no longer relevant to today.”

On that basis, North Fulton leaders want to renegotiate the terms of that agreement since they feel they are carrying a greater burden than South Fulton County, and resources are being steered away from the populations in their municipalities.

Bodker cautioned that a population-based option might not be the only factor to take into consideration because being fair is important. “I wouldn’t want to see the lights turned off in South Fulton County,” he said, but “Fulton County has been misappropriating LOST money for a long time and the right thing to do is take away the money from the county, not the municipality.”

Bodker added, “Fulton County has not honored the prior agreements that called for specific uses for the money, despite an addition to the last agreement that Roswell Mayor Jere Woods negotiated to include.” He continued, “I’m distrustful of Fulton County because they haven’t acted honorably in past LOST agreements, and audits have shown they have violated these agreements.”

According to U.S. census figures, Johns Creek has seen a population from 62,049 to 76,728 residents since incorporation in 2006. The trend in population boom is the same for Sandy Springs, Roswell, Milton and Alpharetta. The mayors now want to renegotiate that agreement to change the way the money is shared.

For example, Sandy Springs, which is the most populous city in North Fulton, could gain an additional $1.5 million in revenue based on the revenue being divided by population growth. Johns Creek, which had an enormous population jump, could see millions added to its bottom line.

Alpharetta City Administrator Bob Regus told Alpharetta Patch, “The real change between this and past distributions is it gives the county its portion by the percent of unincorporated citizens, which has never been done before.” He also added that the fairest way to split the revenue is based on population.

Fulton County would get a lower percentage of sales tax dollars, no matter which formula is used, because the county has less unincorporated land and a smaller population count due to the new cities, including Johns Creek, Milton and Sandy Springs. That would cut into the county’s share of the revenue, and that’s not sitting pretty with county administrators.

No change can take place until the chairman of the Fulton Board of Commissioners begins negotiations, which are required by July 1, 2012. The current agreement ends December 2012. South and unincorporated Fulton County saw their populations decrease in the 2010 Census. For example, the city of East Point lost nearly 15 percent of its population and its leadership isn’t in favor of a population-only distribution. It would mean $1.5 million less for the city.

Bodker said he is hopeful that the negotiations will go smoothly, but he is certain the process won’t be controversy-free, since “Fulton County always finds a way to interject other things into the process.”