When contemplating the possibility of disruption up here in Windsor Connecticut from the upcoming revaluation, I’ve toyed around with the idea of my section of town breaking off into its own community, to avoid the tax drain from ineffective municipals schools, and a tendency for the town leadership to push for development in this area despite the town long-range plan’s call for maintaining the exurban nature of the area.
I quickly dismissed the idea as impractical.
Judging by this news from Atlanta (via the AJC), maybe I was a bit too hasty:
The Fulton County Taxpayers Foundation has mailed a glossy four-page newsletter to about 50,000 households in the area, pushing to secede from Atlanta and make Buckhead its own city.
Supporters point to the city government’s budget problems and school property tax rates and say the proposed city of Buckhead would better manage their tax dollars. Opponents fear the move would financially devastate Atlanta, which is currently struggling with a staggering budget shortfall. […]
Buckhead is considered home to many of Atlanta’s largest office buildings, some of its most expensive homes and two of the region’s haute shopping malls: Lenox Square and Phipps Plaza.
Reading through the article, it sounds like the plan suffers two fatal flaws – a majority of all voters in Atlanta would need to approve of the secession, not just the voters in Buckhead, and somehow I suspect voters in the balance of Atlanta might not like to see so much of their revenue base leave…at least not without taking their share of the infrastructure costs along with them.
And, as the article notes, there is already an incorporated municipality in Georgia named “Buckhead”. The Potential Former Atlanta Neighborhood Known As Buckhead would need to find a new name – Hâute Buckhead, perhaps?
