Church:

Continued from Page 6 and positive for the city,” Vanstrom said.

Jenkins said he had been eyeing the old Kohl’s property ever since it closed seven years ago. The lot is a mile away from his home.

“When Kohl’s closed down, I immediately identified that property as our promised land,” Jenkins said.

The church was still relatively new at the time and could not afford the pricey property, so Jenkins looked for a partner to help fund and develop the site.

In 2020, he found a partner in developer Competitive Social the plan right now. She asked whether a city twice the size of Milton could put all the pieces in place in time and whether Roswell would face the same organizational pressures in future municipal elections.

Still, Beeson voted in support of moving forward, asking for a kind of “exploratory committee” to see if the city could manage its own municipal elections in 2023 or 2025.

Wilson stressed that the decision is not binding, and the city will “bail” if necessary.

“I talked to the mayor of Milton this evening, and if the process is not worked out to the satisfaction of any of the cities, the process could be aborted,” Wilson said.

Beeson also asked if the city had tried to further negotiate costs with the county, in the effort of “due diligence on both sides,” in case Roswell decides not to run their own elections.

Fulton County originally set a March

“We have an enormous opportunity as we move beyond the pandemic to build a public education system that is truly centered on the needs of Georgia students.”

In an amended 2023 budget, Gov. Brian Kemp has requested an additional $745 million for schools and proposed more than $1.1 billion to fully fund the QBE formula.

Committee to review QBE

Last year, the Georgia Senate approved a resolution to form the “Senate Study Committee to Review Educational Funding Mechanisms.” Meetings were held across the state last fall to gather input from the public as it looks to address shortfalls in QBE this session.

The five-member committee is tasked with reviewing the “efficacy and sufficiency” of school funding, primarily the QBE, to determine if it is meeting the needs of Georgia’s 1.7 million public school students and 2,300 public schools.

Owens said the QBE formula is

Venture. The group planned to open a pickleball sports and recreation facility called Pickle and Social. Eagles Nest would develop an event center on the property as well.

The pickleball developers backed out of the property in March 2022 after they deemed the property “too cost-prohibitive,” and Jenkins had to start over.

“If we got another opportunity to purchase this property we would seize it,” Jenkins said.

The opportunity came last year, when the church found new partners. Jenkins cannot divulge who the partners are but called them “real estate experts.”

With the new partners on board, Jenkins said he hopes to create the “way of the future” with Eagles Nest

1 deadline for cities to decide if they would run their own elections. The new March 31 deadline was set after the county passed the new election budget.

Roswell residents have expressed varying levels of support and concern. One resident asked whether the city had run a feasibility study for the elections.

“We’ve done a workshop and we’ve done a committee meeting where we’ve begun to explore the costs,” Wilson answered.

Two poll members came forward with different takes on the city’s plan. One said she was in favor of the plan, as well as the possibility of using paper ballots, which the Milton elections committee recommended for its elections. The poll worker said paper ballots are more efficient than electronic scanners.

Councilmembers have raised concerns about using paper ballots for a city of more working for the most part, but in serious need of review and updates.

“Georgia has one of the fairer funding systems in the nation,” Owens said during a recent media symposium hosted by the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education. “But it is getting less fair year after year.”

He noted in the recent past Georgia was among the top 10 states in the country for how much money was directed to public schools with high numbers of economically disadvantaged students. Georgia has now dropped to 16, and is one of only six states that does not have targeted funding for students in poverty.

Owens also pointed to the state’s $6.6 billion in surplus revenue above the “rainy day” fund that sits at the discretion of the governor and Legislature.

“So we will all be watching with bated breath on how that money is spent this year [to see if it is used] to increase services for the people of Georgia,” Owens said.

Church. The details are still private, but the church is dedicated to a multi-use development. The property will likely include an auditorium or event center facility for church services.

The planned auditorium development will likely seat somewhere between 750 and 1,000 people to encourage “hybrid,” online and in-person attendance, he said.

Many of the Eagles Nest Church members attend entirely online, and with almost 3,000 members Jenkins said the services will continue to be hybrid.

Meanwhile, Eagles Nest Church meets at the auditorium in Centennial High School, right across the street from the Kohl’s site. Jenkins wanted to be close to the future development than 90,000.

Another poll worker, Eren Brumley, took issue with the tight timeline.

“I strongly suggest this change is taken as a research project for this year and then implement it next year after we find out it makes sense in the long run,” Brumley said. “In the meantime, you could negotiate a better rate from Fulton just for this year.”

Other residents asked for more voting locations in East Roswell, and they asked how the city would decide on an election superintendent.

Wilson said he does not have all the answers, because the discussion is about “learning more about” what it would look like for Roswell to run elections.

“In committee, we began to share information, but by no means is it all the information or all the i’s dotted and t’s crossed,” Wilson said.

Local districts pay ‘fair share’ to get his membership used to the area.

QBE is considered a funding partnership between state and local school boards. Local school districts are expected to contribute revenues equal to five mills on the property tax digest to the school system – whether they actually assess it or not. This is referred to as the Local Five Mill Share.

This local share is calculated for each county, then subtracted from the QBE formula before state dollars are allocated. According to the Georgia Department of Education, the Local Five Mill Share in FY2021 equaled $2 billion of funds deducted from QBE. This is the equivalent of $1,176 per student earned but not provided by state funds.

For less wealthy districts with low property values and limited tax revenues, the state provides most of the school funding, and offers “equalization grants” to cover some of the gaps. For wealthier counties with high property values, local taxes still fund the majority of public education.

Eagles Nest rents the auditorium from Fulton County Schools for a fee, and the church has invested more than $150,000 in upgrading the space, including improvements to the audio, video and lighting equipment. But, the auditorium still is not big enough for the church. It seats about 450 people, so Eagles Nest holds two services. Soon, the church may have to hold three services to accommodate the large membership.

The tight fit at Centennial creates urgency for the development, but Jenkins said the church must be patient.

“Things are going to change, not overnight, but things are going to change,” Jenkins said.