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.
