Barn gets cash See us on the back cover
Library gets $20K bump ►►PAGE 6
Acting pays off
Milton boy lands movie role ►►PAGE 10
Making dreams happen Woman gets home makeover ►►PAGE 7
September 18, 2013 | northfulton.com | 73,500 circulation Revue & News, Johns Creek Herald, Milton Herald & Forsyth Herald combined | 50¢ | Volume 6, No. 38
How the LOST funds get divvied up City
Previous %
New %
Previous $
New $
Net Change
Alpharetta
5.22
5.81
$12.4M
$13.7M
$1.3M
Atlanta
42.88
40.44
$101.8M
$96M
($5.8M)
Johns Creek
6.97
7.75
$16.5M
$18.4M
$1.9M
Milton
1.71
3.29
$4.0M
$7.8M
$3.8M
Roswell
8.8
8.92
$20.8M
$21.7M
$0.9M
North Fulton cities receive LOST windfall By JONATHAN COPSEY & HATCHER HURD
Students and fire fighters set up Cambridge’s memorial.
High schools honor the Sept. 11 victims Cambridge, Milton have ceremonies By JONATHAN COPSEY jonathan@northfulton.com MILTON, Ga. – The high schools of Milton have established the tradition of students remembering the 2,977 victims of the Sept. 11 attacks through their own efforts.
Student-led memorials and ceremonies were held in the morning of Sept. 11 at the two schools. Both lined their lawns with flags dedicated to the dead, a tradition started at Milton High and passed on to its newer sister school, Cambridge. “When you see the flags, it’s overwhelming,” said Caroline Willis, a junior at Cambridge and organizer of this year’s event. She,
her friends and other fellow students were out for several hours on the afternoon of Sept. 10 placing the small American flags into the ground. They were helped by members of the Milton Fire Department. “[The victims] were not numbers,” Willis said. “Each flag is a person, and each person had a story behind them.”
See 911, Page 20
NORTH FULTON, Ga. – North Fulton’s cities gained the most population in the last Census, therefore they came out on top of the recent renegotiations of sales tax monies with the county. The last Census resulted in numbers showing an increased movement of population from unincorporated Fulton County and Atlanta to the cities and suburbs. The newly negotiated split of the Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) money reflects this. The 1 cent tax collected about $237 million last year. Normally Georgia law requires that the largest city in the county negotiate with the county commission for a formula for the division of the sales tax revenue every 10 years. Other cities may elect to opt out of the negotiated formula and instead choose
to receive a share based on population ratio of that city. An alternative, which was used in this case, allows for cities representing a majority of the citizens to also negotiate with the county. In Fulton County it was the latter case this time as 12 of the cities – Atlanta and Fairburn sat out – negotiated with Fulton County for a pro rata split. This left Atlanta as still receiving the largest slice of LOST revenue but nevertheless with $5.8 million less. According to one source, the coalition of cities came about so they could negotiate with Fulton County instead of Atlanta. It was felt among the cities that Atlanta was angling for a larger portion of the tax, around $106 million, than its reduced population warranted, the source said. A deal was struck to provide a larger than pro rata share to three South Fulton
See LOST, Page 25
GET THE KIND OF CLEAN THAT ONLY COMES FROM A TEAM OF SPECIALISTS Visit Maids.com to learn about our unique 22-step deep cleaning system.
Call now for a free estimate.
770-579-6442
Referred for a reason.