The City of Brookhaven undertook an unusual mechanism to fund infrastructure and construction of the 10 year old City’s first City Hall. By amending the Charter, the City Council clarified the apparent intent of the City’s Founders that only the taxes assessed to establish the City’s Annual General Fund budget were to be capped at 3.35 mills ($.00335 per dollar of assessed property value). Then, by establishing a Special Service District to provide funding for infrastructure and transportation improvements across the City, along with an Urban Redevelopment Agency to partner with developers and expand the City’s economic opportunities, the City created a perfect atmosphere to create generational funding for special projects.
On behalf of the City, Balch Law Group presented that plan to the Dekalb Superior Court which agreed with the City’s methodology and the reasonableness of the funding mechanism. The Court held that the $88 million funding initiative to improve infrastructure and construct a new City Hall was valid and appropriate and affirmed the Charter changes, as well. The Firm, along with bond counsel, led the legislative and legal initiatives to give life to the Council’s policy vision and legally accomplish that mission expeditiously and efficiently.
