If you’ve seen the editorial page of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution this morning, you might have noticed two guest columns from House Speaker Pro Tempore Mark Burkhalter and Fulton County Commission Chair John Eaves arguing for and against the resurrection of Milton County.
Burkhalter, who represents portions of north Fulton in the legislature, says Fulton County is dysfunctional in every sense of the word.
Two audits found the county’s board of assessors had not accurately assessed property values, leading to a lack of confidence in tax bills by both homeowners and commercial landowners.Fulton employs 6,037 full-time workers, the most of any government in the state.
The Fulton County Sheriff’s Department has been plagued with inept sheriffs who have either been corrupt or incompetent such as Jackie Barrett…
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “Bring back Milton County? PRO: More efficiency, less expense for Fulton”, March 3, 2009
Based on the points raised above, the distinguished gentleman from Johns Creek consequently pronounces that a smaller, more efficient county government closer to the people represents the answer he and his colleagues in the General Assembly are offering in response to Fulton County’s dysfunction.
John Eaves, the Chairman of the Fulton County Commission, rejects at hand the repeated claims of Burkhalter and other pro-Milton advocates who say the re-creation of a new county will lower their taxes, improve property values and provide better-mandated county services. Eaves then discusses the heavy lifting that would be required if Milton County ever became a reality.
First, Milton would have to purchase all of the Fulton assets within the Milton boundaries. These assets include schools, fire stations and other county facilities. In order to comply with the Georgia Constitution, these assets would have to be purchased at fair market value.Second, Milton would have to set up all offices constitutionally required of a county. For example, the county would have to construct a courthouse and have to employ a sheriff, clerk of court and judges (both state court and superior court). As you can imagine, the financial burden of these two categories of expenses will be profound.
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “Bring back Milton County? CON: Split would tax residents, economy”, March 3, 2009
Okay.
Starting a new government from scratch is hard work. No one is denying that.
However, if the existing Fulton County government functioned the way it should, then this entire debate being waged on the pages of the AJC, in homes on both sides of the state’s largest county and in the legislature would be a moot point. If Fulton County operated the way its neighbor to the south, Fayette County, operates, do you really think people would be saying, “Let’s split up the county!”
On a quick side note, there are very few (if any) folks advocating for the division of Fayette County or even pushing for the creation of new cities in Fayette County.
The Declaration of Independence says, “Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes. . .”
The people of north Fulton feel that they’ve tried and tried and tried for years to make Fulton County work. And that now, their only option is to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them to the state’s largest and most dysfunctional county in order to “institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.”
When our founders established this country, they were under no illusions as to the difficulties they would face while building this new nation. But, they saw what they had under the rule of King George III and they didn’t like it. The colonists worked with the British Crown to have their concerns addressed. Then, after exhausting all remedies, they decided things wouldn’t get any better and that it was time to break out on their own.
That is the exact position that residents of a would-be Milton County find themselves in today.
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Tell y’all what. You can have Milton county if you pay a $5 toll every time you cross into Atlanta.
I’m bringing back Campbell County while we’re at it.
am i the only that finds it ironic tht milton kinda begged fulton to take them during a financial crisis and is now trying to break back away?
am i the only one hat thinks it’s absurd that ga has more counties than any other state than texas–if anything we should be merging more counties not trying to split them up?
Are there alternatives to forming a new government? Could a different political relationship exist with the City of Atlanta? Could the provision of services be differently divided?
In the long run creating more local governments with smaller jurisdictions is less efficient and more costly. The big advantage seems to be creating new opportunities for more politicians to run for office. The same people that tell you the new government won’t cost anymore, are the same people that end up running for office.
“The big advantage seems to be creating new opportunities for more politicians to run for office.”
And drawing from a smaller pool, so inevitably reducing the quality.
Fulton is just one big neighborhood when you think about it. It only takes three hours to go from Palmetto to Alpharetta by bus. How cool is that?
Yes, a Milton county will be represented poorly…but as far as the delivery of services, it will be better for the residents.
The size of a county is not really the issue. Many things need to be taken into consideration…demographics being the most important. Residents of North Fulton have been paying for nearly everything while residents of south fulton free ride. This has lead to a wasting of resources and the inability of the county to create economies of scale in terms of the delivery of public services.
Milton county should be…technically it is already happening. How much of North Fulton is not incorporated now? The people of North Fulton have gone so far as to pay higher taxes (well, atleast let their cities look at running deficits since the GOP has not learned that low taxes = low revenue) to receive their fair share of public services.
Odin, get real. I already pay a “toll” when I come to Atlanta. There are few places I go in the city…the sports arenas, the Fox, High Museum, and a few restaurants in North Atlanta. I pay for parking at everyone of them (whether valet or just for a space). Not to mention the sales tax on overpriced booze.
In the long run, proposals for a county-city consolidation of Atlanta should be made and investigated.
Is it possible for residents of North Fulton to be more poorly represented than by the jerks that are already on Fulton County Commission?
For years, North Fulton has carried the burden financially for the county. In the early 90′s, guys like Mitch Skandalakis and Mark Burkhalter said “enough is enough” and started getting those North Fulton residents excited about changing the situation. And the City of Atlanta politicos and the old Fulton County establishment said “whatever. we’ll believe it when we see it.”
Mitch and Mark talked for years about this with Milton County. It’s taken longer than they would have liked and circumstances for both guys might have had a part in that, but we’re on the verge of a reality here, where Fulton County again has to face some harsh realities about how they do business.
Fulton County and the City of Atlanta have had their heads in the sand for too long. They had their heads in the sand with the Lomax recall. And then Skandalakis beating MLK III. Now Milton County is going to be on their doorstep and their going to be scrambling for answers and more importantly money. And you know what? There’s nowhere else to go.
“Residents of North Fulton have been paying for nearly everything while residents of south fulton free ride. ”
It’s just that I find suburban complaints of free riding hilarious, since most of the attraction of a suburb is to be able to utilize the city’s labor market and resources without paying for it in property or taxes.
That’s why I proposed the toll – if you really just happen to be next to Atlanta, rather than dependent on it, then there’s no need to pay in.
160 is a nice round number.
More brilliance from Rush.
@Prog Dem “…brilliance and Rush…” ought not be used in theame sentence construction. Shrewd showman, blatant demogogue, embarassing hypocrite, seem more sensible.
Back in the Revolutionary War folks talking like odinseye and Progressive Dem would be called “loyalists” or “tories”. If bigger is better, why did we bother to break away from the largest Empire in the world? Why do we bother with a Federal system? Why have counties at all? Because, the truth is Progressive Dem, you are completely wrong. The more local the control the more efficient the government since it isn’t weighed down by a large bureaucracy. Further, with more localized control you have a more representative and responsive government, as you can literally see you mayor, county commissioner, or sheriff on a daily basis. And while the “pool” may be smaller, so is the electorate, which means there are fewer free loaders trying to use the government to take from one section of the population to enhance their own lives.
I bet if I looked, I may be able to find my old “Revive Milton County” t-shirt from 1998.
Two words
MARTA
Grady
Exactly how does this nirvana get out of those obligations? Or if they don’t, pay their share?
where *exactly* does the georgia constitution require that milton would have to purchase all of the fulton assets within the milton boundaries??? that makes absolutely zero sense.
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