Shafer Amendment Upheld by Supreme
Court
Huge Victory for North Fulton
Taxpayers
BY LYNNE RILEY
FULTON COUNTY COMMISSIONER
The Supreme Court of Georgia today
handed down a decision upholding the constitutionality of the
"Shafer Amendment" -- a carefully crafted provision of the Sandy
Springs bill that requires Fulton County to spend special services
district taxes in the area from which the taxes are collected. The
brainchild of Senator David Shafer, this amendment mandates that the
millions of dollars of special service district taxes collected in
North Fulton be spent here in our community -- on roads, parks,
green space and public safety.
As you might expect, the Shafer Amendment infuriated the Democrats
on the Fulton County Board of Commissioners. Angry they could no
longer use our North Fulton tax dollars as their personal piggy
bank, the Democrats filed a lawsuit challenging the
"constitutionality" of the Shafer Amendment. They have lost at every
stage of the legal battle, first in front of Superior Court Judge
John F. Goger and now in front of the Supreme Court of Georgia.
Along with Chairman Karen Handel and Commissioner Tom Lowe, I voted
against wasting our tax dollars on this ridiculous lawsuit and
appeal. From the moment that the Governor signed the Shafer
Amendment into law a year ago, I have demanded that the Democrats on
the Fulton County Board of Commissioners obey the law and spend the
special service district taxes where they were collected. Instead,
they have defied the Shafer Amendment, dipping into reserves to
subsidize their continued overspending in South Fulton. They have
attacked and vilified Senator Shafer.
Please send an email of congratulations to Senator Shafer at
david@votedavid.com. Let
him know that we appreciate his steadfast leadership in the face of
personal attacks.
Here is the text of the Shafer Amendment:
36-31-12.
(a) The General Assembly finds that:
(1) The purpose of a special services district is to provide special
services to a given geographic area and to finance the provision of
those services from taxes, fees, and assessments levied in the
geographic area which benefits from the services;
(2) The creation of a municipal corporation within a county which
has a special services district for the unincorporated area of the
county may result in the special services district being divided
into noncontiguous areas or in existing noncontiguous areas of such
district being even more remote from each other; and
(3) The purpose of a special services district is defeated if it
becomes divided into noncontiguous areas which are remote from each
other and one or more of such noncontiguous areas is subsidizing the
provision of services in other such noncontiguous areas.
(b) When a municipal corporation is created by local Act within a
county which has a special district for the provision of local
government services consisting of the unincorporated area of the
county and following the creation of said municipal corporation the
special district is divided into two or more noncontiguous areas,
any special district taxes, fees, and assessments collected in such
a noncontiguous area shall be spent to provide services in that
noncontiguous area.
For years, North Fulton has been
neglected by the Board of Commissioners, our tax dollars siphoned to
South Fulton or wasted on bureaucracy while our basic infrastructure
needs went unmet. Finally, we have leaders at the State Capitol like
Senator Shafer who will stand up for us.
You may be assured that I will continue my fight to make sure that
North Fulton taxpayers are treated fairly.
I hope this Update has been informative. Please contact my office at
any time we can be of assistance.
Thanks!
Lynne Riley
Fulton County Commission - District 3
Fulton County Government Center
141 Pryor Street, SW
Atlanta, GA 30303
404-730-8213 office
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