Presentation - Stonecrest City Alliance

The City of Stonecrest A Great Place to… Live ~ Work ~ Play Worship ~ Shop www.stonecrestcityyes.com The Proposed City of Stonecrest This cityhood effort is the culmina@on of 3 years, 2 fiscal feasibility studies, over 60 Public Forums & HOA Mee@ngs, 2 General Assembly Study CommiPees, 1 DeKalb County-­‐sponsored impact study, the Atlanta Regional Commission(ARC) Livable Centers Ini@a@ve (LCI) Study, 1 House vote, 2 Senate votes, and the signature of Governor Nathan Deal. www.stonecrestcityyes.com The Vision for the City of Stonecrest The incorpora@on of the City of Stonecrest is vital… §  To protect and enhance the standard of living of its residents with local zoning decisions and more responsive code enforcement, §  To improve the commercial hub of the Stonecrest Regional Center and drama@cally increase the area’s tax base, §  To a>ract high quality and innovaAve businesses to the Lithonia Industrial Park that will provide more jobs for Stonecrest residents, §  To create an economic development engine to generate more commercial and industrial growth in the Stonecrest Business Corridor, §  To provide an environment that fosters cooperaAve parental and corporate engagement in area schools, which will have a posiAve affect on property values, §  To develop a tourism industry that will take advantage of the vast and www.stonecrestcityyes.com scenic Arabia Mountain NaAonal Heritage Area The Cornerstone of All Great CiAes Live Nice Neighborhoods and an APrac@ve Standard of Living Work Very Few High Wage OpportuniAes for Residents Play Arabia Mountain Na@onal Heritage Area & Boundless Greenspace Worship Many Houses of Worship in Stonecrest Shop Commercial Areas Need Economic Development www.stonecrestcityyes.com Economic Development Master Plan For the City of Stonecrest (August 2013) www.stonecrestcityyes.com Stonecrest Commercial Master Plan In 2013, the Stonecrest LCI Plan was published by DeKalb County and the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC); it created a 5-­‐year master plan for economic growth in Stonecrest (a few examples): §  Create a Stonecrest CID §  Create a “Stonecrest Economic Marke@ng & Branding Campaign” §  Encourage manufacturing and light industrial in the Lithonia Industrial Park §  Develop a mixed use Lifestyle Center with retail, housing, and office space near the Mall at Stonecrest (concept used in Atlan@c Sta@on) §  Create a Stonecrest Conference Center and Amphitheater www.stonecrestcityyes.com Commercial Development in Stonecrest The only viable op@on to salvage our rapidly declining commercial area is through cityhood: §  Create an Economic Development Department with a dedicated staff whose sole focus is on the development of an economic engine to spur growth of businesses in the City of Stonecrest §  Re-­‐brand the Stonecrest Business Corridor to dras@cally improve the Stonecrest Commercial District: §  Implement the Master Plan documented in the Stonecrest LCI Study (August 2013) §  Create a Stonecrest Community Improvement District (Stonecrest CID) §  Create a ConvenAon and Visitors Bureau §  Develop a Stonecrest Chamber of Commerce §  APract Quality Establishments to Stonecrest Mall and the surrounding area §  Create Stonecrest Government Center (city hall, gov’t offices, and courts) §  Build Stonecrest ConvenAon Center along with a new Amphitheater Industrial Development in Stonecrest The only viable op@on to revitalize the underu@lized industrial area is through cityhood: §  Re-­‐brand the Stonecrest Business Corridor by APrac@ng New Industries to Lithonia Industrial Park §  Light Industrial §  Warehouse Space §  High Tech Company Partnerships with Local Research Universi@es §  Green & Alterna@ve Energy Companies §  Build-­‐out Space for Burgeoning Film Industry §  Inland Transporta@on §  Sell Abroad & Partner with Emerging Markets (like Cuba) www.stonecrestcityyes.com Carl Vinson InsAtute Fiscal Feasibility Study for The Proposed City of Stonecrest (February 2015) www.stonecrestcityyes.com CVI Feasibility Study for Stonecrest For an area to be considered for cityhood in the State of Georgia, a feasibility study must be completed by a recognized organiza@on: the Stonecrest feasibility studies were conducted by the Carl Vinson InsAtute of Government (CVI) at the University of Georgia: §  2014 Study: Found Stonecrest to be too large (83,000 residents), it engulfed the City of Lithonia, and city wouldn’t generate the needed revenue to support a police department and other services (FAILED) §  2015 Study: Reduced footprint (29 sq. miles) and the number of residents (52,000) and selected a different mix of city services that would bePer affect the need for economic development (PASSED) www.stonecrestcityyes.com Feasibility Study #1: City of Stonecrest FAILED in 2014 www.stonecrestcityyes.com Feasibility Study #2: City of Stonecrest Roge
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Rd Henry County Rockdale County Rockdale County PASSED in 2015 www.stonecrestcityyes.com Stonecrest City Services Three city services were selected that would have the greatest affect on the economic development and standard of living in Stonecrest: §  Zoning – local control over residen@al, commercial, and industrial construc@on and growth §  Code Enforcement – vigorous oversight and control of the Stonecrest brand §  Parks & RecreaAon – promote tourism and healthy living in Stonecrest The City of Stonecrest charter provides for the implementa6on of addi6onal city services, as necessary www.stonecrestcityyes.com City of Stonecrest Budget The ini@al budget was developed using the UGA Carl Vinson Ins@tute (CVI) Feasibility Study es@mated values, based on comparisons with comparable ci@es (Smyrna & Peachtree Corners); most of the new ci@es have used the CVI es@mates and they have been quite accurate. The CVI Feasibility Study es@mates that the City of Stonecrest will operate with a 20% surplus in the first year; so the city will be able to consider an accelera@on of the implementa@on of key components of the 5-­‐year plan in the Stonecrest LCI Study. www.stonecrestcityyes.com Revenue Occupa@on Taxes Alcoholic Beverage Taxes Personal Property Taxes Hotel/Motel Taxes (General Use) Hotel/Motel Taxes (Restricted to Tourism) Business License – Alcoholic Beverages Bank Shares Taxes Intangible Development Fund Zoning & Variance Fees Insurance Premiums Taxes Homestead Op@on Sales Taxes (Restricted to Capital) State Grant-­‐Community Development Block Grant Miscellaneous Franchise Fees Real Property Taxes Real Property Taxes – Penal@es Total Revenue EsAmate $1,319,493 $409,295 $23,464 $93,541 $155,902 $131,472 $72,104 $5,355 $406,813 $7,150 $2,557,363 $188,873 $482,652 $3,177 $3,842,567 $146,590 $2,340 $9,848,152 City of Stonecrest Revenue The revenue es@mate reveals some very interes@ng facts: §  There are revenue streams that are only accessible to incorporated municipali@es (franchise fees, hotel/motel taxes, insurance premium taxes, etc.), that’s millions of dollars for development and improvements that goes unused on an annual basis §  There is no property tax increase planned for Stonecrest, since property taxes account for less than 10% of the city’s annual revenues §  There will be sufficient funding to begin economic development ac@vi@es as soon as the city is incorporated www.stonecrestcityyes.com Your Tax Bill (Unincorporated vs. City) Your property taxes aren’t increased, only paid to a different en@ty: Unincorporated County Tax Bill Incorporated City Tax Bill www.stonecrestcityyes.com Expenses City Council Administra@on (City Manager & City Clerk) General Opera@ons & Administra@ve Services (includes IT, Finance, Human Resources, etc.) Facility Leases Legal Department Community Development Planning & Zoning Code Enforcement Building Inspec@ons Municipal Court Parks Tourism Con@ngency Fund Total OperaAng Costs $403,227 $546,550 $1,370,302 $230,176 $189,818 $234,106 $210,885 $379,594 $370,676 $9,382 $3,046,256 $155,902 $388,889 $7,535,765 Capital for Park Acquisi@on** $267,470 General & IT Start-­‐Up* $106,983 Total Annual Expenditures $7,910,218 * This amount represents one-­‐6me costs for furniture and financial so<ware purchased for general government purposes in Peachtree Corners. ** Park Acquisi6on is a one-­‐6me cost City of Stonecrest Expenses The expense es@mate shows how each tax dollar will be spent: §  The city council es@mate will be lower because the bill signed by the governor has lower salaries for the mayor and city council than was used in the CVI Study §  The Parks Acquisi@on & Maintenance es@mate assumes Stonecrest will acquire ALL of the parks currently in the city’s footprint; the acquisi@on will be nego@ated with DeKalb County and the State of Georgia §  Police, Fire, and 911 Services will remain with DeKalb County un@l the City is fiscally sound enough to implement www.stonecrestcityyes.com Surplus Total Annual Revenues $9,848,152 Total Annual Expenses $7,910,218 Amount of Revenue exceeding Expenses www.stonecrestcityyes.com $1,937,934 Do You Have QuesAons About The City of Stonecrest? Answers, FAQ & Links to All Studies: www.stonecrestcityyes.com www.stonecrestcityyes.com