Buckhead's cityhood dreams could come with a high price
By Thomas Wheatley, Axios Atlanta
Opponents of the Buckhead cityhood movement — hereafter referred to as "Buckxit" — say the proposed municipality comes with a host of complexities about operating city services and schools, whether the new municipality is on the hook for things like bond debt and pensions and how these might affect Atlanta in the future.
Why it matters: Losing the affluent swath of north Atlanta neighborhoods would cost City Hall as much as $116 million and Atlanta Public Schools $232 million in tax revenue, according to a study by KB Advisory Group and paid for by the Buckhead Coalition, the north Atlanta business group opposed to cityhood.
The loss of revenue could require Atlanta to pay a higher interest rate or insurance costs to borrow money to pay for roads, buildings and other vital city projects, says Georgia State University and public finance expert David Sjoquist.