North Fulton County lawmaker wants to split from South Fulton to create "Milton County" (Atlanta: insurance, hotels)

[cwkimbro]

Umm... long ranting again cmon man...

Ok, I'm going to focus on the airport again... mainly because I fly alot.

A few problems with the airport argument... and a few planning concerns you need to understand about the region having a 2nd airport and what that would mean....wouldn't mean.

First off... there has been studies by the FAA for years on the best way to alleviate congestion at Hartsfield... expansion vs. building a new airport. The city has also looked into the same thing... including on property the city of Atlanta (proper) owns in North Georgia.

There are a few problems... none of the northern suburbs, despite it's vast population has been willing to raise funds (yes, that means a tax somehow) in order to fund a second airport for the north metro. So... when I read your argument... my first gut response is... ok well... You have to get the North Metro region to put their money where their mouth is and build it. The City of Atlanta built Hartsfield. They are using the income generated from the airport to continue to expand it and...yes... even considered building a second airport north of Atlanta themselves.

The funny thing about the argument is... it would be Atlanta proper paying for it and doing it... if it happened.

The other issue... Atlanta is so sprawled out if we build a second airport, which requires a ton of cheap (mostly not built on) land that is easy to make completely flat. There aren't many places to do it. All of the potential sites that have been spotted are pretty far north or to the NE as an expansion of the Barrow County airport. A second airport would be so far out of town, even many (if not most) people in North Fulton (and Gwinnett and Cobb) would still be closer to Hartsfield. The only way I see this changing is there is ever a small expansion/privatization of Gwinnett's or Dekalb's airport, but if that happens it will be a very scaled back commuter airport.

Ok funding aside for a moment... semantics of north, south, and atlanta city arguments aside....

I just want to offer a reminder of what a second airport in Atlanta actually would/wouldn't mean.

I'm actually from Gwinnett and would continue to use Hartsfield all the time, even if I also used an airport north of town or in Gwinnett.

A second airport will be more of a commuter airport... It won't be a major hub like Hartsfield is... What this means is flights won't go everywhere and they will fly at fewer times of the day.

Whereas Hartsfield is a hub, so it means there will be more flight options and it means you can get a direct, quicker flight to just about anywhere.

What a second airport would offer is direct flights to hubs of a few various airlines like United, American, other Delta hubs, and a few flights from Southwest on a few major routes. It would also mean flights to the largest cities (NYC, Chicago, Dallas, Miami), but the flights wouldn't be as frequent so you can't be as choosy what time your flight leaves/arrives.

So would there be a benefit... yes... I just wouldn't exaggerate it or assume it will provide the same offerings of Hartsfield.

Back to the county semantics...

Yes, Forsyth Co. does owe Fulton County for it's growth ... and more importantly the City of Atlanta for building the foundations of a second region for their growth.

They also owe a thanks for their low taxes to two main reasons... Low amount of services (health etc... The population uses Grady ... which you are also ranting about... as their level I trauma hospital).

The other reason why Foryth's taxes are even lower than the other suburban counties is it's accessibility to Lake Lanier. There are alot of high value properties in the county, especially near Lake Lanier. While the millage rate is low, those properties pay a high overall property tax to Forsyth Co. If anything high value properties in Forsyth are subsidizing the taxes of cheaper properties away from the lake. But anyways... enough with Forsyth... not every county in the region can be that lucky.

The problems with Grady's funding are complex... The primary problem is it is the major Level 1 Trauma center for the whole region, but most of it's local funding comes from just Dekalb and Fulton counties, but all of the other counties in the region aren't helping to pay for a service their residents use/take advantage of (which is partly why their taxes are often lower).

[Now I have to give some credit to Gwinnett Co. They made a fairly large Level II trauma center and it takes alot of patients from Gwinnett, Forsyth and other suburban/exurban counties to the northeast]

The other problem (partly because of the previous problem) Grady becomes a common go-to place for people without health insurance using the Emergency room for health problems that didn't get examined soon enough. They can't afford to pay, don't have health insurance, but an emergency room is required by federal law not to turn away patients in need of help. If you want to stop this problem... it isn't the management of Grady, Fulton, or Dekalb Counties... It is byproduct of our country's overall healthcare problem. They would love nothing more for this problem to go away, but they can't make it happen.

I don't want to get sidetracked into the details of any national healthcare debate, but whatever anyone happens to agree with, disagree with, or think the solutions should be... this is one of the biggest problems with healthcare in the US and too many people not having insurance. This often goes ignored and not talked about. At the end of the day Fulton and Dekalb have to pay the brunt of the uninsured, whether they like it or not.


So the ultimate problem I have here is... I'm very sympathetic to the problems of core cities and counties paying for facilities that suburban counties also depend on, but don't pay for. That creates an unfair tax burden on the core city/county, however I'm not very sympathetic when a region wants to split itself from the core, so they can potentially have lower taxes and also leach off the services provided by the metro's core.

Now there is truth the property values are lower in S. Fulton compared to Atlanta (proper) and N. Fulton and therefore generate less total tax money. They changed the tax rates. S. Fulton pay a higher millage rate now, while N Fulton is paying a lower millage rate to the county and the remainder to their respective N. Fulton city. The city of Atlanta continues to provide and pay for most of their own services, but they do pay a millage rate to Fulton County for use of the county court, sheriff, etc..

[AcidSnake]

Your rants are well-appreciated by me, if not anyone else, cw.

Originally Posted by cwkimbro

Umm... long ranting again cmon man...

[brent6969]

If anything we need to decrease the number of counties in this state, way too many.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by cwkimbro

The problems with Grady's funding are complex... The primary problem is it is the major Level 1 Trauma center for the whole region, but most of it's local funding comes from just Dekalb and Fulton counties, but all of the other counties in the region aren't helping to pay for a service their residents use/take advantage of (which is partly why their taxes are often lower).

For what it's worth there's an article in today's paper about Atlanta Medical Center (Georgia Baptist) becoming a Level 1 trauma center. They'd compete for insured trauma patients. Atlanta Medical Center already provides Level 1 care but to obtain the official designation you have to have research capabilities which, as a teaching hospital, they do.

[Mattie]

Originally Posted by Caleb Longstreet

Funny you mention this...my wife has been called back 3 times in a year and a half, me? once in the last year.....I just figured it was triggered off voting....weird a DA would say that.....

The last time I was summoned, I forgot and was so paranoid, I called to make sure there was no warrant! She told me not to worry about it and threw me back into the jury pool...I'm waiting for my number to come up....

My wife and I have been summoned a total of 6 times between us in the last 4 1/2 years......before that it was once or twice total in 5 years....I have no idea of how those pools are selected but, I do know this, I put it in Outlook everytime I get a summons and send myself emails to remind me days in advance to make sure I never miss again.....

And 40% in South Fulton don't show up??? How is that even possible? I would be scared of getting a bench warrant...I didn't think anyone would blow that off just because of the nuissance consequence.....not to mention a record???

As your experience shows, they have neither the time nor the manpower to track down people who ignore summonses. You called them after you forgot, right?

But, my neighbor was told 40% DO show up from So. Fulton, so 60% don't.

I have never lived anywhere that I've been called every six months, which would be your wife's tally. My son was called in the fall, and had to send in a notarized form saying he was away at college. He was excused, and given a new date in June (he will still be at school then too).

I find jury duty to be an interesting way to spend a couple of days, just not every six months. With the population of Fulton there's no way our names should pop up so often, but we're easy marks, because we actually show up.

[livinginbuffalo]

summons so in case I get one too soon, I can just call and tell them the last time I showed and get excused until my seven years is up. Every six months? That is crazy!

[SW30303]

I used to think getting called for jury duty almost every year in my 20s was excessive in one of the counties here in metro Atlanta. I haven't heard of anyone more often than that until reading it here.

[arjay57]

I have always liked going for jury duty. You are the conscience of the community, as they say. Plus, if I ever have a case I want the good, smart people to show up, not a bunch of deadbeats.

[AcidSnake]

I agree. I think the only reason Georgia have so many counties is probably the result of some Boss Hogg/land baron/Plantation owner type of person desiring more control over his property, and decides to create his own county government as a result. It's your typical southern feudalism.

I could be wrong, but given my relatively intimate understanding of Georgia & southern culture, this line of reasoning somehow resonates with me.

Originally Posted by brent6969

If anything we need to decrease the number of counties in this state, way too many.

[bdawk]

Originally Posted by arjay57

I have always liked going for jury duty. You are the conscience of the community, as they say. Plus, if I ever have a case I want the good, smart people to show up, not a bunch of deadbeats.

Have you ever been on a jury? I used to feel like you until I got picked to serve on a jury one. Let's just say that in my Jury, the good, smart ones were greatly outnumbered.