Atlanta and 1,000,000 city proper

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by arjay57

And taking care of a few billion in unfunded pension obligations so that there might be some money to spend on sidewalks, potholes, parks, etc.

Exactly. I think the financial mess in city hall, particularly the pension obligation, is perhaps the single most critical challenge that the city faces. I applaud Mayor Reed for his efforts to date on this issue - I just hope he has the force of will and leadership moxie to get us heading down the right path.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

Exactly. I think the financial mess in city hall, particularly the pension obligation, is perhaps the single most critical challenge that the city faces. I applaud Mayor Reed for his efforts to date on this issue - I just hope he has the force of will and leadership moxie to get us heading down the right path.

No question about it, really. If we don't get that squared away we will be paralyzed going forward. The city's COO -- who is an apolitical bean counter -- says that if don't deal with this, we'll be spending 40% of all tax revenues on pensions in a matter of 6-7 years.




I hope all Atlanta citizens will regularly call, email and visit with their city council members and with the Mayor and let them know that we strongly support them. Citizen input makes a big difference. These folks all have to stand for election and they need to know they are not alone.

[testa50]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

Exactly. I think the financial mess in city hall, particularly the pension obligation, is perhaps the single most critical challenge that the city faces. I applaud Mayor Reed for his efforts to date on this issue - I just hope he has the force of will and leadership moxie to get us heading down the right path.

Early indications are good*, and I think when we see the average income level in the city compared to ten years ago (has that been released yet?) we'll realize that, despite not having grown, we are a much more stable and robust tax base than we previously were. Now if we could only grow AND keep a high-income tax base around, imagine the possibilities!


Hopefully our tax base can grow its way out of this, and future politicians won't pay off city employees out of the imaginary pension bucket to score cheap political points.

*http://www.peachpundit.com/2011/03/1...n-reform-plan/

[ATL Urbanist]

Originally Posted by testa50

Early indications are good*, and I think when we see the average income level in the city compared to ten years ago (has that been released yet?) we'll realize that, despite not having grown, we are a much more stable and robust tax base than we previously were.

This would be great -- I hope this is the case. Higher average income and a greater source of city tax revenue would help take the sting out of the lackluster census numbers.

[Saintmarks]

Originally Posted by arjay57

I know this is an old thread but I thought annexation fans might be interested in seeing what was done in the past. The biggest annexation took place in 1952, of course, when the city grew to nearly its present size. That annexation included Buckhead (i.e., the area north from Brookwood to the city limits, between I-75 and I-85), but it also included much larger additions to the west and south.

I am with Aries, need a link for this map. Absolutely fantastic find! Did you post it and I missed it?