Divorce ... municipal style

The possible Buckhead breakoff would be slow, but that amount of time could create an opportunity.

Walter C. Jones

August 1, 2008

C reating a city out of an unincorporated portion of a county is a simple matter compared to breaking an existing municipality in two.

Interest in establishing a separate city out of the neighborhoods of Buckhead stems from frustration by property owners in the posh area who argue they're not getting anywhere near the amount of city services that is comparable to the taxes they pay. The same people may make generous contributions where they worship or to their favorite charities, but the coercion of taxes has a tendency to bring out the miser in folks.

After all, many Buckhead residents are used to having some say about how their churches and charities operate, often by serving on the governing boards. But the population distribution in the city of Atlanta means Buckhead residents don't have the votes to control the city council.

Divorce, municipal style, is akin to civil war. Compared to incorporating part of a county, there is no sterile, painless mechanism for disentangling two parts of the same city without radical surgery. In recent years, the Georgia Supreme Court has grappled with cases of residents seeking to reverse annexation by one city or another, but usually the ink on the new maps hardly was dry before those few acres were seeking to be spun back off from a city that had recently gobbled them up.


That's not to say the mood of the General Assembly's leaders isn't sympathetic toward Buckhead independence. If they were willing to heed the cries of North Fulton voters for cities like Sandy Springs and Johns Creek after years of petitioning - and despite the warnings that Fulton would be destitute without those rich tax bases - then these same lawmakers aren't likely to see a reason to prevent a sort of self determination by Buckhead residents, many of whom are sizable contributors to GOP campaigns.

But the legislature won't act fast. Proposals usually must percolate a while under the Gold Dome before a majority is ready to act. The question is what Mayor Shirley Franklin and the leaders of the city council will do in the meantime.

They could spend their time lecturing Buckhead residents about being tightwads and prejudiced against the demographic makeup of the rest of the city, an approach that wasn't particularly effective when Fulton County commissioners used it. Or they could do what savvy politicians have done since the signing of the Magna Carta; namely, address the concerns of the powerful minority. If city leaders aren't ready to part with the well-heeled taxpayers of Buckhead, then they can show them they're appreciated.

Of course, that's not a painless course of action. It means while the Southside of Atlanta's vast needs go unmet for yet another year, Southside politicians will have to explain to their constituents the reason why: that, as distasteful as it may be sometimes, the one paying the piper gets to call the tune.

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