Dispute between APS, city threatens to slow Atlanta Beltline progress (Mitchell: 2015, bankrupt)

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by jsvh

Good coverage including text of the letters from CL: City Hall and APS lawyers trade jabs, threaten legal action in Beltline funding dispute | Atlanta News & Opinion Blog | Fresh Loaf | Creative Loafing Atlanta

Troutman Sanders 1, COA 0.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by arjay57

School boards exist for one purpose only: The education of our children.

Anything else is beyond their purview.

Engaging in high risk commercial estate speculation is NOT something school boards should do and this is a perfect case in point.

There are countless things that can go wrong -- cost overruns, delays, materials prices change, the economy goes south, interest rates change, demographics shift, the city which owes you money tells you to a hike, etc.

School boards should always stick with the most conservative and reliable investment strategy. They are a public trust, for the students, the taxpayers and their employees. As such they have the highest level of accountability and they should never put the public's money at risk on speculative ventures.

If they do get skewered, they also have a high responsibility to take the necessary action to get the public's money back.

Well said.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Troutman Sanders 1, COA 0.

Actually it sounds like 100-0. When your opponent starts attacking you (as the city attacks the school district's performance), its clear they have nothing of value to say. Troutman was very professional, direct and factual while the city's response was childish and petty.

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Troutman Sanders 1, COA 0.

Correction:

Troutman Sanders 1, COA 0, APS 0

[bu2]

Originally Posted by jsvh

Correction:

Troutman Sanders 1, COA 0, APS 0

Well no one's getting any money yet-except Troutman.

[arjay57]

Why doesn't the city just pay them the money? APS has offered them several options.

If we can spend megabucks on a streetcar line and award grants to businesses along the route, surely we can pay the school system. While I realize enhancements like the new Edgewood bridge, the Eastside trail Gateway, the art program and the special police force are nice, shouldn't the city pay back the school system first?

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Why doesn't the city just pay them the money? APS has offered them several options.

If we can spend megabucks on a streetcar line and award grants to businesses along the route, surely we can pay the school system. While I realize enhancements like the new Edgewood bridge, the Eastside trail Gateway, the art program and the special police force are nice, shouldn't the city pay back the school system first?

Sorry, the whole, "cash, credit, or check" options are BS. No one is denying that enough money exists. We can stop work on the Beltline and have enough to give APS what they are asking for. But the Betline TAD was not setup to divert extra money to APS.

[arjay57]

The city needs to get square with school board on these Beltline payments.

If the Beltline can keep expanding, adding art, running aerobics classes and spending a fortune on PR, why in tarnation can't they pay the school board?

The city of Atlanta has missed another payment to Atlanta Public Schools in connection with the Beltline project, according to school district officials.

Under the agreement that helped fund the popular greenspace project, the school district was due to be paid $6.75 million Thursday and another $6.75 million last January. To date, neither payment has been received, according to school district officials.

City misses another Beltline payment to Atlanta schools | www.myajc.com

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by arjay57

The city needs to get square with school board on these Beltline payments.

If the Beltline can keep expanding, adding art, running aerobics classes and spending a fortune on PR, why in tarnation can't they pay the school board?

Because not paying APS is the only way any progress on the Beltline will happen. APS is asking for more money than the Beltline has.

Let APS take the Beltline to bankruptcy court and get pennies on the dollar or negotiate reduced payment like other institutions that made bad property valuations before the housing crash. That is the only way this is getting resolved.

[AtlantaComment]

Originally Posted by arjay57

The city needs to get square with school board on these Beltline payments.

We're now in a perverse situation where APS is owed more money than they would've gotten had the TAD never existed. The tax digest collapsed but the fixed amount owed by the Beltline to APS remained the same.

Making APS whole on the amount owed would involved the Beltline paying APS more $$$ than they even collected from the TAD. That is the heart of the dispute.

If this were a private commercial dispute the two sides would renegotiate terms and if that failed the Beltline would simply declare BK.