MANA annexation survey results

Abstract: The Medlock Area Neighborhood Association has been tracking annexation and cityhood proposals affecting the northern area of DeKalb County, specifically for impacts on our neighborhood and services. We conducted a survey that garnered responses from ~28.5% of our ~1400 households. At this time, there is no clear consensus among our residents about the proposals presented in the survey, but we believe that City of Decatur’s annexation of primarily commercial real estate is unreasonable and detrimental to unincorporated DeKalb residents and schools. MANA recommends that we continue to actively explore all our options, seek and distribute relevant information, foster neighborhood discussions, and direct our concerns to elected officials.

Response Rate: Approximately 1400 newsletters and surveys were distributed door to door by MANA volunteers. 438 surveys were completed. 127(~28%) surveys were completed on paper and either mailed or filled out at the October 27 meeting—a reminder to not assume that we can reach everyone online. Most respondents included either a name or a survey number; 19 responded anonymously (no name or code). Thirty-seven codes were used more than once (35 were used twice each, two were used three times each, meaning that multiple adults in the same home completed the survey). We estimate that ~28.5% of targeted households completed the survey.

RESULTS:

Question 1: How would you vote on a proposal to become part of the City of Decatur?

61.90% Join Decatur

37.10% Remain in Unincorporated DeKalb

Question 2: How would you vote on a proposal to become part of a new city to the north (currently represented by the Briarcliff and/or Lakeside proposals)?

63.59% Join Briarcliff/Lakeside

36.41% Remain in Unincorporated DeKalb

Question 3: How would you vote on a proposal to become part of the City of Atlanta?

58.39% Remain in Unincorporated DeKalb

41.61% Join Atlanta

Question 4:  Would you support a one-year moratorium on all new cities and annexations in DeKalb Couty?

61.75% 1-year moratorium

38.25% Legislature should decide now

Question 5 asked respondents to rank available options in order of preference. 

Based on responses for “Most Favorite” (1) column, the proposals were ranked as follows:

1. Join City of Decatur (41.5%)

2. Remain Unincorporated (19.54%)

3. 1-year moratorium on all annexations (17.70%)

4. Join new city of Briarcliff/Lakeside (15.86%)

5. Join the City of Atlanta (5.75%)

DISCUSSION

We are happy with the level of participation in the survey but most importantly with how both the survey and newsletter have spurred discussion about our neighborhood’s future. 

The survey results are rather mixed and do not give the Board of the Medlock Area Neighborhood Association a clear mandate. Although Question 5 of the survey had annexation to Decatur as the top choice for 41.5% of respondents, that is not an overwhelming majority. Furthermore, City of Decatur has made it clear that it wants to annex commercial property in and near our neighborhood but not the neighborhood as a whole. Decatur’s commercial annexation proposal is unreasonable and we will continue to fight it, as we believe North Decatur Road commercial properties should continue to primarily serve the established neighborhoods that they have been part of for so many years.

Other questions in the survey also yielded mixed results. As to supporting cityhood as a concept, although results were over 60% in favor of joining Decatur or a new city (Briarcliff/Lakeside), they were in the 40% range for joining Atlanta. Over 62% supported a one-year moratorium on all annexations and new cities; only 38% felt the state should decide for us in the coming 2015 legislative session. Question 5 indicated that a one-year moratorium and remaining unincorporated were strong contenders under the “most favorite” category, but a large number of people also ranked remaining unincorporated in their “least favorite” category. 

The top three concerns among respondents who commented are Decatur’s unreasonable commercial annexation plan and potential impacts on our schools and property taxes. 

CONCLUSIONS

• This is a critical time in our neighborhood history.

• The MANA Board does not believe our neighborhood has reached a consensus on how to proceed and is not advocating a particular outcome at this time. 

• The MANA Board believes that it is important that nearby commercial areas continue to serve as large a number of citizens as possible, as they have done historically. There are many millions of dollars at stake, with many more to come as the Medline LCI area continues to develop and draw new businesses. It is unreasonable for City of Decatur to unilaterally claim these resources.

Click to enlarge, via http://www.decaturga.com/
Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=5445.
Medlock Park label added for clarity. 

How much money is at stake? Commissioner Jeff Rader helped us contact DeKalb County's Tax Commissioner Office and GIS unit; we asked them to look at areas A and B in Decatur's annexation map and how the transfer of these commercial properties would impact the DeKalb County School System budget. Area A includes businesses around the North Decatur Road/Clairmont intersection (i.e., Emory Commons, etc. among others) while Area B includes the whole Medline LCI study area (Suburban Plaza, Scott Blvd Baptist Church development, etc. and also Medlock Plaza where Melton's is located). We were informed as follows:  

Zone A – $759,816.06   [N Decatur Rd / Clairmont Rd]

Zone B – $4,747,637.06  [Medline LCI, etc.]

The County analysts that looked up this information for us clarified that “These figures represent the exact amount that we billed on the School’s behalf for those parcels. This will not be the same for the City of Decatur because of different exemptions and the varied assessment level of 40% to 50%.”

These cityhood and annexation discussions always include uncertainty: it is very difficult to pin down exact dollar amounts. But even factoring in “wiggle room” for jurisdictional differences, these are significant amounts of money that would preferentially serve City of Decatur schools and will no longer be allocated to children in the much larger DeKalb County School System. The calculation does not project into the future and we know that as Suburban Plaza is redeveloped and as the Medline LCI area grows and flourishes, revenues from Zone B will only go higher and higher. 

• Whatever its source(s), we must fight the pressure to make uninformed decisions. We are still in a position where not enough information is available and must be very careful and measured in our movements: decisions made blindly will cost us dearly. 

• MANA recommends that we continue to actively explore all our options. MANA will continue to facilitate meetings, track developments, share information as quickly as possible, and encourage our residents to contact elected officials to ensure our neighborhood’s concerns and wishes are well represented.

That unreasonable Decatur annexation plan -- meeting report

On November 4, the Decatur City Commission conducted its Annexation Master Plan Work Session. DecaturMetro reports on it under the title Despite Petitions, No Additions To Decatur Annexation Map – and Other Annexation Meeting Notes (includes link to meeting video). The AJC reported on the meeting as well, noting that over 100 people attended and of the 31 who participated in the public comment session, 20 spoke against annexation.

Decaturish also covered the meeting (see here), and a comment by Mayor Baskett deserves follow-up:

“After dealing with annexation a couple of years back, we weren’t anxious to get back into this annexation discussion,” Baskett said. “I for one certainly was not anxious to. We did not choose this. It was dropped on us. A bill was dropped for a city of Briarcliff that totally surrounded us to the north. So these people that were here tonight who live in some of those areas who were saying we want to stay in the county of DeKalb seem, to me, to be burying their heads in the sand.”

As to the facts:

As of right now, Medlock Park and nearby neighborhoods are not known to be in any map other than the unincorporated DeKalb map. Thus, "these people's" heads are not "in the sand" but rather, held high as they call out City of Decatur's unreasonable annexation proposal... just like City of Decatur residents would be justified in calling foul if unincorporated DeKalb or a new city reached inside Decatur's existing borders to cherry-pick commercial property.

The idea that the Briarcliff proposal somehow snuck up and forced Decatur's hand is misleading. Unincorporated residents, at the time, asked to be included in a new city proposal, as is allowed by the state constitution. Are Decatur's ~20,000 residents somehow more deserving of this commercial property tax base than the ~93,000 citizens that were included in the Briarcliff proposal? More deserving than the ~500,000 residents of unincorporated DeKalb overall? Who made this judgment? We would really like to know.

Had City of Decatur had the foresight to annex Suburban Plaza and the Medline LCI area as recently as five years ago, it is doubtful that anyone would have strenuously opposed. Today, after business owners, community and county have worked so hard to improve the future of these commercial zones, it is a different story, one that does not reflect well on the City of Decatur.

Admitting you have a problem is a good first step. Another Decaturish item includes a statement that City of Decatur issued in advance of the November 3 meeting that finally gets to the issue:

"Another part of the analysis is the implications for adding to, and diversifying, the real property tax base. Both the City Schools of Decatur and the City of Decatur are reviewing the potential revenues and expenditures associated with the draft annexation master plan area. Opportunities to expand the tax base in the long term in order to stabilize and minimize potential future tax increases must be considered and annexation provides an opportunity for that possibility." [emphasis added]

During their meeting with MANA leadership, representatives from City of Decatur insisted that their annexation map is not about money, it is about protecting the city's "gateways" and being mindful of overburdening their school system. It is good to finally hear Decatur admit that it has concerns about its ability to sustain the quality of its brand, namely, the "value" they can deliver vs their tax rates. There is no shame in admitting to income worries: from individuals to corporations, everyone is familiar with the difficulty of balancing income vs expenses.  The important thing is to find solutions that are ethical and sustainable, even if they involve tightening the proverbial belt.

City of Decatur has certainly grown and made great progress in the last 30 years. This growth, unfortunately, has apparently outstripped its school capacity, and the City is also concerned about its ability to deliver expected services without raising taxes. We sympathize with the quandary but maintain that it is absolutely unreasonable for City of Decatur to try to solve its income and school capacity problems by walking on the backs of other county residents who are also trying to secure a good education for their children and protect their ability to live and age in place in their chosen neighborhoods. 

- - - 

UPDATE: Decaturish has just posted a summary of school attendance projections for City of Decatur and expected financial impact: Study: School taxes will go up without annexation. 

DeKalb shelter: free adoptions during November

ATLANTA, GA -- (November 3, 2014)  LifeLine Animal Project wants you to give shelter pets a reason to be thankful, so throughout the month of November, the organization is offering fee-waived adoptions at DeKalb County Animal Services (DCAS).  Through their “Give Our Shelter Pets a Reason to be Thankful” promotion, you may adopt any dog, puppy, cat or kitten for FREE at DCAS!  Adoption counselors will be on hand to ensure the animals are being placed in good homes.

According to DCAS Shelter Director Susan Feingold, the goal of the promotion is to increase the number of shelter animals who will find homes this holiday season.  “All pets deserve a warm bed, a full belly and someone to love them, and in return they bring many positive benefits to a home,” she says.  “Our fee-waived promotions tend to bring more people into the shelter, so we’re counting on continued community support to help more of our animals find forever homes.”

LifeLine Animal Project CEO Rebecca Guinn says that offering fee-waived adoptions is a great way to increase adoption rates.  “Free adoptions tend to create a buzz of excitement and bring more people into shelters,” she says.  “According to numerous studies, fee-waived promotions increase adoptions without compromising the quality of care that the animals receive.”

All November, adopters will receive a dog or cat that has been spayed or neutered, has had all vaccines and is microchipped – a $200 value – for FREE!  To view animals available for adoption, or for the shelter’s address and phone number, please go to DCAS or visit us online at http://www.dekalbanimalservices.com/adopt-a-pet.

About DeKalb County Animal Services
Managed by LifeLine Animal Project, DeKalb County Animal Services provides humane care for animals at the shelter, veterinary care, pet adoptions, pet reclaim services, volunteer opportunities, foster care, and rescue group coordination.  To learn more, please visit www.dekalbanimalservices.com.

Laurel Ridge: Little Free Library garden launch

from Tanya, our schools liaison

Laurel Ridge Elementary is hosting a community workday the next two Saturdays to prepare the Little Free Library garden, Nov 8 and Nov 15 from 9 am to 1 pm. Come help support the installation of this project as a great resource for school families and neighbors - any time that you can carve out to help would be appreciated!

Community meeting summary [Oct 27]

These are very informal notes so we can report on the meeting asap.

We had a great meeting and very well attended: around 135 people showed up to hear about our schools, zoning and yes, annexation.

Acting president Lynn Ganim acknowledged the many volunteers that worked on the annexation survey.

Schools Update (by Tanya Myers, MANA Schools Liaison): Brian McKinley, neighborhood resource coordinator at Laurel Ridge Elementary, gave a brief history and update from the school. Test scores have risen across the board from 2012-2013 in reading, science, math, and social studies. He also described a plan to set up a mini park/gathering area with a bunch of Little Libraries. Home Depot has donated materials for the libraries, benches, arbor and some landscaping material as well. Volunteers are welcome for grounds days (always the first weekend of the month, next one is Nov 8th from 9-1) and site prep day for the Little Libraries (Nov 15th from 9-1)! Laurel Ridge's Fall Festival is coming soon on November 15th.

Preliminary results: annexation survey
based on mid-afternoon, Oct 24, with 224 surveys in.

NOTE: THE SURVEY DEADLINE IS NOW EXTENDED TO OCTOBER 31. Same rules apply: complete online or mail in/drop off @ UPS store at Emory Commons (full info included in the newsletter/survey packet that MANA distributed door to door).

Preliminary survey results:
tiny so you can't read them  but
know we discussed them :) Full
report coming soon!

I. On the individual questions regarding whether the respondent would choose a certain option vs. remaining in unincorporated DeKalb County:

- Join City of Decatur ( 66%) vs Remain unincorporated ( ~34%)
- Join City of Atlanta (~45%) vs Remain incorporated (~55%)
- Join new city (Briarcliff/Lakeside) ( 60%) vs Remain unincorporated ( ~40%)
- Legislature decides now ( ~39%) vs. 1-year moratorium on all new cities and annexations ( ~61%)

II. On the question asking people to rank our various options, those options are listed below

1. Join City of Decatur [highest interest]
2. Join new city of Briarcliff/Lakeside
3. 1-year moratorium on new cities and annexations
4. Remain unincorporated
5. Join City of Atlanta [lowest interest]

Standing room only: House Representative Oliver addresses the audience. Around 135 people attended.

Guest speaker: Mary Margaret Oliver
(these are not complete notes nor a transcript)

Mary Margaret Oliver (no longer our rep, but still a member of the House of Representatives as well as Government Affairs Committee) and Elena Parent (our newest Senator, effective January 2015) were both at the meeting and answered questions about our concerns with annexation. It was a very informative session, thanks to both for attending.

It was a long meting but Ms. Oliver's message was strongly in favor of

1) deciding what we want
2) keeping on fighting for what we want, whatever that may be, by contacting the elected officials who stand to make decisions

Ms Oliver said our survey looked great and that other communities are doing surveys as well.

Ms Oliver answered questions about annexation to City of Decatur:

Q: How can we be talking about Decatur as an option if Decaur said they are not interested?
A: "it ain't over", do not accept defeat today

City of Decatur is likely to get commercial areas but there is an unspoken rule that commercial annexations should also include residents

We would need Representative Rahn Mayo to write legislation to propose that our neighborhood be annexed to City of Decatur. Even if the legislation is approved and a referendum is mandated, the Decatur Commission could still say no.

As to schools, Ms Oliver said that her personal opinion is that by refusing to vote on the highly supported Druid Hills Charter Cluster, DeKalb Schools have given the organizers a very good argument for approaching Atlanta. Atlanta sands to gain a new $79 million school (Fernbannk): if they get the kids, they get the school.

Q: What would happen to our neighborhood if we lose Druid Hills High School to Atlanta?
A: DeKalb Co Schools would reopen a closed middle school or high school to meet the need.

Ms Oliver offered that our neighborhood has desirable resources such as the Medlock Elementary site: is that something that City of Decatur might want for future use? What is valuable to Decatur that we have?

Ms Oliver briefly touched upon property taxes and who those might change due to annexation and she said that annexation to Atlanta or a new city would bring increases but nothing in the magnitude we can expect if we annexed to City of Decatur.

Q: What can we do to fight City of Decatur's annexation of commercial property?
A: Ms Oliver answered that this is a political rather than a legal battle. Last year, Decatur backed away based on strong arguments from commercial owners and voters.

Ms Oliver said the trend seems to be smaller government that is closer to the voter but that is also costlier in terms of property taxes. However, that because of inefficiencies within DeKalb County, it is possible that smaller local municipalities can provide the same services at a lower cost. On taxes, she said that very roughly speaking, there should not be huge changes except if annexed to Decatur. Each municipality has different senior exemptions, for example.

Regarding annexation to City of Decatur, Ms Oliver stressed that City of Decatur needs to hear from us: we need to make a financial case--what is in it for Decatur? We in the Medlock neighborhood have assets. The more folks speak out, the greater the leverage.

Q: How can we leverage the results of our survey?
A: Ms Oliver said that the key is is to be politically strategic and effective. We could put together a legal team, use the survey, make the arguments.

There were many questions from concerned seniors about how their property taxes may go up and create hardship.

Q: Why did the Briarcliff proposal team back away and allow City of Decatur to claim all this commercial property?
A: (Alan Venet answered) When the process began, the cityhood planners were given some rules. One was that they cannot draw maps that create islands. Another guideline, not a rule, was that they were advised to "politically respect reasonable annexation plans" in order to get a hearing for their plans.
Q: was Briarcliff told that they would not be heard at the legislature if they did not honor the "reasonable plan" that City of Decatur proposed?
A: THERE WAS NO CLEAR ANSWER.

Ms Oliver again stated that we have more leverage than we think.

At the end of her enjoyable back-and-forth with the audience, Ms Oliver asked for a show of hands as to how those present felt about the options available. The results (with 1 having the highest show of hands and 5 having the lowerst):

1. City of Briarcliff/Lakeside (amusingly referred to as Briarpatch throughout the meeting)
2. City of Decatur
3. moratorium/wait a year to decide what we want to become
4. City of Atlanta

There was a strong message, be the squeaky wheel. That means contacting the elected officials that represent us but also those who don't directly represent us but stand to make decisions that do affect us (e.g., City of Decatur council members, state legislators who sit in key committees such as the Government Affairs Committee). So hold the WD-40 folks, here we come!

To join Ms Oliver's e-newsletter, go here: http://marymargaretoliver.org/
To join Ms. Paren'ts e-newsletter, go here: http://www.elenaparent.com/about/

Zoning Report (from Theresa Same, MANA Zoning Chair): 
Walmart construction has begun. Moe's, hearing aid shop, Pizza Hut are staying; bowling alley not confirmed. Starbucks and LA Fitness confirmed, additional junior anchors should be announced soon. So, not too many updates since the last Medlock Matters newsletter, which you can read online. 

Reminder to complete your MANA survey

Dear neighbors,

Doodle says "Read the newsletter and complete the survey. Or you get no kisses!" :)

Just a reminder that the survey closes on Oct 28 and that we will report on preliminary data at the MANA community meeting on Oct 27. If you have questions, email medlockassoc at gmail.

Doodle is a rescued puppy who now has a MANA newsletter delivery route. Photo by Barb.