Fulton not quite as bloated as detractors claim

The accusation gets hurled so often most people assume it's true. It's the basis for pending state legislation, an argument against raising taxes and a source of perpetual friction between two ends of the state's most populous county.

 

Fulton County, the charge goes, is a bloated bureaucracy that failed to rein in spending after four communities broke away during the last decade to form cities.

 

But the perception that Fulton hasn't scaled back since 2005, when Sandy Springs became the first city to shake off direct county governance, doesn't hold up to scrutiny. Data analyzed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution show spending has fallen significantly in the unincorporated area's special tax district that once served the four new cities and other annexed areas. In fact, if the district were a city, it would be among the most tightly run in the state for its population.

 

Dispelling the myth is important, as it fuels ongoing battles between Northside and Southside leaders over the distribution of millions of dollars in taxes and delegation of services, such as public safety, roadwork, and water and sewer, for nearly 1 million Fulton residents. The premise also underlies claims that the affluent northern suburbs are propping up the poorer south, a major gripe of Milton County secessionists.

 

DeKalb County faces similar accusations that it failed to cut back after Dunwoody formed, which plays into the movement to incorporate Brookhaven.

 

There may be plenty of fat to chop in the overall Fulton government. But two separate taxes, and two realms of county operation, are at issue.

 

One is the general fund tax for countywide services such as courts and libraries. That tax is paid by property owners throughout the county, including the six cities that form north Fulton, which all provide many of their own services in lieu of the county.

 

The other is a special tax levied only on unincorporated residents for city-type services, such as police and fire protection. The new cities once paid into that fund but traded those mill rates for city taxes when they voted to incorporate.

 

The distinction is significant as the county prepares to increase south Fulton's tax rate by 17 percent this year, while some county commissioners say the whole county may be in for a tax increase in coming years unless overall spending stops exceeding revenue.

 

In south Fulton, the exit of the lucrative north Fulton communities from the services district, combined with plummeting Southside property values, has the district struggling to provide basic services. To help plug a $7 million budget shortfall, the working 2012 budget would increase the south's special tax rate by 1.5 mill.

 

That would more than double the rate in 2005, bringing it to 10.469 mills -- translating to about $525 on a $200,000 home with a homestead exemption. South Fulton Commissioner Bill Edwards has assured taxpayers that falling home values will keep tax bills from going up.

 

"There's nothing else you can rein in," Edwards said of the district's spending. "We went through the fat, through the muscle, and we're at the bone now."

 

Budget figures show that spending for unincorporated services has fallen from $117.8 million in 2005 to a tentative $45.1 million in 2012. Employees have dropped from 1,109 to 377.

 

"It looks like the special services district has been reduced an appropriate amount, if not more than an appropriate amount," said Georgia State University public finance professor Michael Bell, a former chief financial officer for DeKalb County and Atlanta, who reviewed the data with the AJC.

 

Based on county data, 2005 population estimates and the 2010 census -- which put the unincorporated south at 87,478 people -- Fulton County spent $481 per person in the special services district in 2005 and $12 less per resident last year. Next year's working budget would have the county spending $515 per resident, but that's still less than six years ago when adjusted for inflation.

 

"For people to say that the county has not reined in spending, that's not true," Commission Chairman John Eaves said. "I don't want to say that the claim is baseless, but it's not based on fact."

 

Such claims of bloat have been made repeatedly by John Sherman, president of the Fulton County Taxpayers Foundation. It's also the rationale for a constitutional amendment proposed by House Majority Whip Edward Lindsey, R-Atlanta, that would reduce Fulton's powers to those required by law or agreed to in contracts with cities.

 

Confronted with the figures, some backed off the claim or cited intricacies in how the special services district is managed that make a perfect comparison to like-sized cities problematic.

 

Sherman said he'll stop saying that the county hasn't cut back to adjust for the new cities.

 

"But I feel that there could be major reductions in the county budget," he said.

 

Lindsey said that with more than 90 percent of Fulton residents choosing to live in municipal areas, the message is clear they don't like how the county operates and want local control. There are still duplications of services between Atlanta and the county, such as libraries and senior centers, that cities could handle, he said.

 

"They are engaged in areas that they don't need to be engaged in," he said.

 

Several cities with populations comparable to south Fulton's spend more per capita than the services district and have more employees.

 

For example, Roswell, with 88,346 people, has 604 full-time and 225 part-time employees and spends about $720 per resident under its current budget.

 

North Fulton leaders were quick to say they get more for their money than they did as part of the services district.

 

For an array of reasons, a perfect comparison of how the special services district and cities operate would be difficult. Dollars bleed over from the county's general fund to the south Fulton district, and vice versa, by design. For example, south Fulton's road maintenance is funded by countywide taxpayers.

 

Said state Rep. Lynne Riley, R-Johns Creek, a former north Fulton commissioner: "It's hard to say apples to apples."

 

Comparing costs

 

Residents in unincorporated sections of Fulton County pay a special tax to support city-type services, such as police and fire protection. Perfect comparisons of how the special services district and cities operate would be difficult because some services in the district are covered by Fulton’s general fund. But the district also compensates the county for a number of services. Below is a comparison of the service district and Georgia cities of similar size in population size.

 

 

* For the cities, budgets reflect general fund spending. In employee figures, contract workers are included and part-time workers are calculated as one-half person.