Fayette State

Rep. Kathy Cox has defended her policy that requires a unanimous vote

from municipalities before sponsoring any local legislation.

Last week,

Peachtree City Mayor Steve Brown took Cox to task about that policy in

a letter, complaining that it keeps the city from enacting a Community

Improvement District for the Ga. Highway 54 West area. The CID would allow

business owners in the area to "vote" on whether to assess special

taxes among those businesses to fund projects for the area, requiring

a majority vote both in number and land value before the tax could be

collected.

The City Council

passed a motion for the CID program 4-1 at its Feb. 7 meeting, with Councilwoman

Annie McMenamin against. But without the enabling legislation, the project

cannot go forward.

In a reply

to Brown dated March 27, Cox said her policy requiring a unanimous vote

from a governing body before introducing local legislation began with

advice from "several experienced legislators."

"In my

opinion, it is an admirable trait in any elected official to be cautious

about change and skeptical about tax proposals," Cox wrote. "I

too was elected by the people of Peachtree City and Fayette County and

therefore I have an obligation to be sure that anything I do at the state

level is in fact in their best interest."

Cox said she

has a number of questions about the CID proposal that haven't been answered

yet, such as how property taxes will rise in the area and what the funds

would be spent on.

"The answers

to these and many other questions were not provided to council or to me

before you called for a vote on granting the city the authority to create

this district," Cox wrote. "The devil is in the detail, Mr.

Brown, and the details of this entire concept were not thoroughly discussed

or made public."

Cox said several

small property owners in the area weren't told about the CID plans "and

they are the ones that are hurt the most by increased taxes."

"If in

fact a CID is the right idea for the development of the 54 West corridor,

I have the utmost confidence that the property owners in this city and

all their elected council members will support this effort," Cox

said.

In a reply

letter, Brown informed Cox that he hopes to fund projects identified in

the city's Liveable Centers Initiative study that was conducted by a volunteer

group of citizens and developers in the area.

Brown also

pointed out that the commercial development in the area will be different

than other locations in the city since there are multiple land owners

and no building covenants on the property.

"Having

a higher standard for aesthetics, architecture and landscape would produce

some high-end shopping opportunities and reduce the changes of a visual

commercial blight in the area," Brown wrote.

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