Local Cities Annexation.

It has come to our attention that some of the local cities in Dekalb and Gwinnett county have decided to start some type of annexation of their city limits. Right now, Decatur, Avondale Estates and Lilburn are in LAND GRAB modes. If you are a resident in these areas, then you get to vote about your residential property becoming annexed.

If you own business property or own a business in the soon to be annexed areas, you do not get a vote. Contact your State Representative or Senator for your business district, and make sure they fight the annexation for you. In Avondale Estates, not only are they trying to annex the property, but they want to change the Zoning rules for the to-be acquired businesses. Many of the zoning changes will be extremely restrictive to the property owners. The existing businesses will be grandfathered in without a zoning change, but if that business moves, the property will then change over to the new more restrictive zoning.

What do the Business Owners and the property owners get in return for a much higher tax bill each year? Basically Nothing….. Dekalb county provides very good police and fire protection in the Avondale Estates area and there are no other services that the city will provide to the businesses. Both the business owner and the business property owner will be taxed at a higher rate than if they were in the unincorporated county. If the City was going to provide something to the businesses and property owners, then it might be a fair deal, but for now it is very lop-sided.

The thing that concerns us at Small Business Concerns is that the federal government has said there will be higher taxes next year on corporations. The cities are raising their taxes on local businesses, so some companies in Avondale Estates, Decatur, and Lilburn might be facing a double increase in their tax bill next year which could equal an 8% to 15% higher tax bill from some estimates.

We will keep you informed as to what happens in the annexations that we know of.