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By Gordon Certain
Read about the "Beltline Project" in the AJC? Think it doesn't affect North Buckhead because it is miles away? Read on...
The Beltline, as you might know, is an exciting project which promises to convert "under-utilized land", including some vacant railroad right-of-way, into a reinvigorated and redeveloped loop around the core of Atlanta.
The closest the Beltline gets to North Buckhead is several miles away at the Lindbergh MARTA station on Piedmont. But that doesn't mean the Beltline won't affect us. The Beltline involves a special tax allocation district or TAD. The TAD approach was established by the State of Georgia as a way to redevelop slums and other challenged properties. However, in the case of the Beltline, many of the properties included are already well utilized.
A key characteristic of the Beltline TAD is that for the next 25 years, within the TAD, all increases in property taxes (both due to Beltline investments and from normal increases in property values due to inflation that would happen anyway) go to pay for construction of Beltline improvements. Should a tax revenue shortfall result, property owners outside the TAD (including each of us) will have to pay somewhat more to fund day-to-day operations of the City.
The proponents of the Beltline are pushing to authorize the TAD before year's end, yet many important details are unresolved. Does all this mean the Beltline is a bad idea? Not necessarily. It could be wonderful. The Beltline promises to create acres of new parks and to shift the focus of development to parts of the City which really need it. (See www.atlantada.com.) A successful Beltline project could result in a greatly strengthened Atlanta. A new transportation system, yet to be de
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