Atlanta mayor blasts Fulton commission for opting out of tax extension plan

“One commits taxpayers to pay for the consequences of decades of failed leadership, while the other rejects a proactive investment intended to strengthen neighborhoods before they reach a point of crisis,” Dickens wrote. “It is a contrast that reflects a governing philosophy that values paying for failure over investing in prevention.”

A spokesperson for the county confirmed Dickens’ letter was received just before noon, but said Fulton did not have a comment on it.

“Fulton County’s policy position is based on the priorities of Fulton County Government and the responsibility to serve all 1.2 million residents in 15 cities,” Jessica Corbitt-Dominguez said in an email.

Extending the tax districts, or TADs, would help Atlanta fund Dickens’ landmark Neighborhood Reinvestment Initiative, which he has pitched as a way to help overcome decades of inequality and bridge the city’s massive wealth divide.

Tax Allocation Districts are designated areas in which property tax revenue growth is diverted away from the governments and instead used to pay for infrastructure improvements within that district’s boundaries.

The Atlanta City Council approved the extensions last month, but is requiring the participation of at least one partner — either the county or Atlanta Public Schools — if the city is to bond against future property tax growth.

Citing an undue financial burden and the county’s own fiscal obligations, a majority of commissioners voted two weeks ago to opt out of the mayor’s plan. County Commissioner Bob Ellis said Fulton needs that tax revenue to fund its own projects and services over the next three decades.

That includes $1.3 billion to renovate the troubled Rice Street jail and a $300 million commitment to building a new hospital in southern Fulton County. The county is under a federal legal agreement to improve conditions inside the jail.

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

Dickens called it a rushed vote that was taken before taxpayers had the chance to consider the benefits of his plan.

“This is not only bad governance, but also a regrettable decision that will cost more and deliver less for our city, county and region,” Dickens said.

After a lengthy discussion about TADs and their potential burden on Fulton’s tax base, commissioners voted 4-1 not to take part. Outgoing Commission Chair Robb Pitts was among those who voted against. Dickens endorsed Pitts’ opponent, former Commissioner Mo Ivory, in their primary race.

The city had offered to sell the Atlanta City Detention Center to the county for $80 million if commissioners agreed to support the TAD extensions, The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported.

Now, that offer is off the table, Dickens said in Thursday’s letter.

“To be clear, Fulton County desperately needs humane detention facilities,” the mayor wrote. “Unfortunately your $1.3 billion option is the wrong answer.”

Dickens called the plan “an unnecessarily heavy drain on taxpayer dollars” and said it does nothing to address systemic inequity, improve neighborhoods, or help keep people out of jail.

“Instead, it willfully neglects other, better solutions,” Dickens wrote.

For more than three years, the city has leased up to 700 beds at the detention center to the county as Fulton’s Rice Street jail remains under the federal consent decree for its “deplorable” conditions. That lease agreement is set to end this year, said Dickens, who noted the city jail is valued at about $144 million.

“Our (city jail) proposal provided immediate relief and a solution to the deplorable conditions at the jail as opposed to a new jail complex that will take years to build and likely balloon in costs along the way,” Dickens said, calling Rice Street’s woes a “self-inflicted crisis.”

Community Over Cages, a local coalition that has long pushed for the closure and repurposing of the city jail, accused Dickens of using the “suffering of incarcerated people” as a bargaining chip to advance his neighborhood reinvestment plan.

“For four years, families have buried people who died in Fulton County’s custody. For four years, we’ve asked this administration for accountability and partnership, and received almost none,” the group said in a statement. “Now that Dickens needs something from the county, he’s using that suffering to get it.

“Incarcerated people are not pawns. Their families are not leverage. Their pain is not a negotiating tactic.”

The county plans to build a new facility to house Rice Street detainees with physical and mental health issues. That facility will temporarily house inmates from the general jail population while the county jail is refurbished.

Dickens’ letter includes an addendum suggesting that by purchasing the detention center, Fulton could have reduced the size of the revamped Rice Street facility, eliminated the need for a temporary space to house detainees while the jail is being renovated and still participated in extending the TADs. Doing so, the mayor’s office said, would save taxpayer’s more than $200 million.

But opting back into future TAD plans could prove difficult, even after at least four new commissioners are sworn in next year. That’s because Ellis’ resolution includes a clause requiring a supermajority of five votes if the county is to participate in any newly created or extended TADs.

Atlanta’s school board has yet to decide whether it will take part.

Dickens, meanwhile, said: “Fulton County can still join us, choose a path other than constructing a new $1.3 billion jail, and lean into comprehensive solutions for public safety.”

“Real, impactful change begins long before someone enters the criminal justice system,” he said.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include a statement sent from the local coalition Community Over Cages. The statement was sent after initial publication of the story.