DeKalb Commissioners To Consider Proposal To Study Impact Of New Cities On Counties
In the last six years in DeKalb County, Stonecrest, Tucker, Brookhaven and Chamblee have all incorporated. And now there’s a push to incorporate two more cities. But what impact do new cities have on counties? DeKalb Commissioner Jeff Rader wants the county to fund a study to look into the issue.
Al Such / WABE
How do newly incorporated cities affect counties? That’s what some DeKalb County commissioners want to know.
Tucker, Brookhaven, Chamblee and Stonecrest have all incorporated in the last six years. And now there’s a push to incorporate two more: Vista Grove and Greenhaven.
Commissioner Jeff Rader said he’s concerned about the responsibility of delivering services, like code enforcement and recycling.
“If we continue to lose service territory, it may be that the county says, ‘Well we can’t do it anymore,’ and then what’s the implication for that city that had been formally depending upon the county as a service deliverer?” Rader said.
“It can become more difficult for a county to provide countywide services as municipalities spring up and take some of the revenue that previously flowed to the county,” said Peter Bluestone, who’s a senior research associate with Georgia State University’s Fiscal Research Center and Center for State and Local Finance.
Rader wants the county to fund an $86,000 study to look into the issue. He expects the request to get approved at the DeKalb commission meeting Tuesday.
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