Peachtree City

Mayor Bob Lenox wants to fund several new recreation and leisure facilities,

expand the tennis center and restructure the debts owed by the city's

airport and development authorities all at the same time.

The catch is,

he'll have to sell voters on approving at least two separate bond issues

so the city can secure a long-term loan to pay for the projects. Increasing

the hotel-motel tax from 3 to 5 percent will provide enough money to make

the estimated $640,000 annual payment such a loan would create, Lenox

said.

"That

way, instead of the citizens who live here now paying for it, the citizens

who will live here in the future will pay for it," Lenox said, noting

that the city has usually been able to make its public improvements by

paying cash for projects in the past.

Of the estimated

annual $940,000 the hotel-motel increase would create, $640,000 would

fund the first two bond issues, Lenox said.

Lenox is also

proposing a third bond issue for voters to decide upon, which would fund

construction of a community center that would cost over $5 million. Such

a leap, however, would require a millage rate increase from between .15

mills and .3 mills, he added.

The first bond

issue, for $1.6 million, would relieve the Airport Authority's $1.4 million

in debt and provide another $200,000 for airport improvements.

The second

bond issue, for $5.05 million, is more expansive. It would retire the

development authority's debt at $600,000 and fund the estimated $2.5 million

needed to finish the tennis center expansion. It would also pay for an

additional basketball court and gymnastics area at the Kedron recreation

center ($1.2 million), final improvements to the amphitheater ($200,000)

and the purchase and improvements to Drake Field ($650,000 total) which

would connect it with Picnic Park via a bridge and also add a boardwalk

area along the side of the lake.

The first two

bond issues would cover what the city needs to "finish out the community"

and continue the city's tradition of having top-notch facilities, Lenox

said.

The proposed

community center, which would be funded under the third bond, would be

44,000 square feet, including a 250-seat performing arts center, seniors

area, teen area and multi-purpose space.

Lenox said

that breaks down to a $2 per month tax increase for those who own a $200,000

home in Peachtree City. He urged homeowners to look at the community center

as something that would enhance their property values.

"It's

an investment for the future," Lenox said, adding that he felt the

community center was "totally optional," compared to the projects

in the other bond issues, which he considers necessary.

Lenox also

wants the city to finance $2.34 million for a number of smaller-scale

necessary public structures through the Georgia Municipal Association's

Bricks and Mortar Program, including:

A fire station

for the West Village ($800,000)

A fire training

tower ($350,000)

A smoke/burn

training building ($250,000)

Remodeling

of city hall and the public works building ($250,000)

Upgrading

Neely fire station ($175,000)

Adding a three-bay

facility to the public works department ($100,000)

Adding storage

buildings to the Kedron and Hwy. 74 South recreation complexes ($175,000)

Adding an

auto shop to the public works facility ($100,000).

The hotel-motel

tax will also benefit the airport authority and development authority

their facilities on a self-sustaining basis, Lenox added.