HB 626 No Longer A City Lite

After learning that the Bill featured on the Sharon Springs Committee and the Sharon
Springs Alliance website wasn’t the Bill that was submitted to our legislature,
I had a fit, how were citizens supposed to make an informed decision if they didn’t
have access to valid information? I decided to pull out the stops and write
every elected official I could think of, Todd Jones made sure that I had the
Bill by that afternoon, so writing your elected officials works. When I began
pouring over the new Bill and studying the language, I realized that this piece
of legislation had drastically changed, it was no longer a City Lite, but a
pathway to full-blown cityhood.

Other members of the Opposing Sharon Springs group had a head start on reading the Bill
and yesterday afternoon in a flurry of emails, we all agreed it made us very
nervous. Every citizen should read this legislation, yes I know it’s as
enjoyable as sticking a fork in your eye, but it is imperative to understand
what could be lost.

PLEASE NOTE - THE BILL HAS PASSED THE SUB-COMMITTEE AND
COMMITTEE AS OF TODAY 01-31-18

LET YOUR NEIGHBORS KNOW ABOUT THE POTENTIAL MAY VOTE

Here are some of the issues within the Bill as noted by the sections and where they
can be found:

Section 1.12 Items 7 & 20 - the scope of power that the City may
control has expanded to include Fire Departments, and Public Improvements/Parks
and Recs.

Section 2.28 – Some expansion regarding the powers granted to the
mayor.

Section 3.1 The City Manager – Appointment, Qualification and Compensation.
This is an entirely new section and every citizen should read it whether you’re
for or against the city. The City Manager has the ability to hire at will,
doesn’t answer to the city council, this is the true position of power. And
while the title claims the section includes compensation information, it is
glaringly absent from the entire section.

Please note that some City Managers in new nearby cities are making almost $200,000.00
per year.

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/brookhaven-city-manager-may-be-highest-paid-city-m/137102273

We’ve been told that the mayor and his staff will take out a few thousand feet in a
strip center for their offices. HB 626 also calls for a municipal court, which
would include a judge and necessary staff.

Magistrate judges make approximately $150,000.00

https://www1.salary.com/GA/Judge-Magistrate-Salary.html

Magistrate clerks make about $37,000.00 per year

https://www1.salary.com/GA/Court-Clerk-salary.html

We’ll also need a city attorney who’ll act as our prosecutor, that’ll run us $80
-$85,000.00 per year

https://www1.salary.com/GA/Attorney-I-salary.html

Our city attorney will need a clerk and that’ll cost us about $36,000.00

https://www1.salary.com/GA/Court-Clerk-salary.html

What will we do with folks found guilty and sentenced to jail time from our
municipal court? We’ll have to pay the county to house them along with other
criminals from our area.

That .5 mils that we’re going to be taxed is flying out the door pretty darned fast!

Now let’s talk about the roads. There are in fact 268.16 miles of roadways
within the footprint that the city will now have to take care of, and while
that’s not a lot, we citizen’s will be footing the bill somehow. See the button
below for a link to the Sharon Springs Committee Report about the roadways.

Did you know that Gwinnett County just gave responsibility of the stormwater
drainage system to the City of Peachtree Corners last fall? Another potential
service that will need to be paid for.

Should HB 626 wind its way through the Georgia House and Senate, citizens will be
given a two-week notice of the impending special election in May, doesn’t seem
very fair to the citizens of our great county.

Taken from Section 8.1

The superintendent shall cause the date and purpose of the election to be published
once a week for two weeks immediately preceding the date thereof in the
official organ of Forsyth County.

If passed by 57.5 of the vote, Sharon Springs will become a reality. We all know
that you don’t get something for nothing so being told that it’ll cost us
nearly nothing is hogwash. The entire county will suffer, taxes will be raised
so that it may recoup what it lost. There are other proposed cities waiting in
the wings should Sharon Springs become a reality; Bethelview, Coal
Mountain, and Silver City. The county cannot handle this type of loss of
revenue and taxes will go up, period.

Did you know that Dekalb County is seeking a moratorium on new cities for three
years? They can’t afford to take care of the citizens in other parts of their
counties due to the loss of revenue.

http://www.myajc.com/news/dekalb-commissioners-add-moratorium-municipalities-session-goals/JqeC6KHp0JuEQvcNpyZoNP/

This legislation will forever change Forsyth County, folks need to be educated about
this historical referendum within our community. Whether you’re for or against,
please take the time to talk to your neighbors, point them to the information
that is out there from both sides. And since less than 10% of the land in the
footprint of the city is available to be rezoned, this seems like a pretty
expensive endeavor just to have a sense of identity.

Go to https://www.opposingsharonspri... for more information