Ceremony:

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“It’s opportunities like this, the connectivity, the infrastructure, that allows those challenging locations to actually be productive parts of our community,” Gilvin said. “I am grateful for the CID and all of our partners who made this happen because we need that. The City of Alpharetta needs that. North Fulton needs that.”

North Fulton CID Executive Director and State Sen. Brandon Beach said the extension joins other infrastructure developments on the Ga. 400 corridor, which he called an economic engine of the state.

“I’m a firm believer that there’s a direct correlation between infrastructure investment and accommodate a voting surge, Krokoff said, and they align with the city’s three council districts.

Some councilmembers disagreed with the proposal. From a cost savings perspective, Councilman Rick Mohrig preferred to stick with the election committee’s recommendation. In the first year, three polling locations would cost the city around $11,000 more than having two.

“It’s going down for the eight,” Mohrig said, referring to Fulton

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County’s number of polling locations. “We could have gone with one location, but we ended up going with the two. I’m not so worried about long lines. I think people have a choice if they want to go for early voting. They’ll have plenty of days to do that.”

But Milton Mayor Peyton Jamison and others said three locations would be better.

“I like three,” Jamison said. “I think we went from a feasibility committee, and now we’re more operational. We

Milton Municipal Elections

need to do what’s going to make this the most successful.”

Considering the lack of consensus, the Milton City Council was expected to return to the issue at its April 17 work session.

In August 2021, Milton voters began petitioning their City Council to exit Fulton County elections. It sparked a years-long campaign that spread to other North Fulton cities. Alpharetta, Roswell and Johns Creek have since indicated they will stick with the county – at least for the 2023 election season. Milton is set to operate ballots on their own. Appen Media will continue to cover the story as the city works through logistics of operating an election.

If you have questions, thoughts or story ideas, send them to newsroom@appenmedia.com. Then check back here next week or go to appenmedia.com/municipal_elections.

Here’s a question from one of our readers: “Where is the paperwork that shows the cost comparisons published for all to read?” economic development and jobs,” Beach said. “It was a true partnership with the CID, [the State Road and Tollway Authority], the City of Alpharetta, all the partners, and even the business community.”

Answer: The City of Milton is developing a webpage for its municipal elections, anticipated to go live in early summer. Staff say the page will not include cost comparisons between the city-run municipal election and what Fulton County would have charged for conducting the operation. According to Milton Communications Director Greg Botelho, the focus of the page is information specifically for voters, rather than explaining the election decision and process.

Appen Media reported that the City of Milton paid a subsidized cost of $84,671 to Fulton County to run its 2021 municipal general election and another $70,368 to conduct a runoff election in late November.

The Fulton County Commission decided in February it would no longer use a flat, per-registered-voter rate. Instead, it will charge cities a percentage of the total estimated cost the county anticipates to spend, meaning cities would likely pay more than they did in previous years.

Chairman Tim Perry said the CID, now in its 20th year, has invested roughly $28 million in projects, which it has leveraged into $170 million of work.

“We really want to increase the value and the quality of life in the community,” Perry said. “There’s only so many roads you can build, but where we need to improve that connectivity, where we need to spur economic development and appreciation of the district itself, is where we’re going to invest.”

Perry, Beach and Gilvin joined city officials, CID boardmembers and project partners for a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the new street.