BeltLine Tax Business owners along trail urge delay in implementing ‘special services district’

By Collin Kelley

Small business owners along the Atlanta BeltLine are urging the city to delay implementation of a proposed tax overlay district to fund completion of the 22-mile loop.

The BeltLine has been holding a series of community meetings on the special service district (SSD) that would see a 2-mill increase in taxes for commercial properties and apartment complexes located 0.5 miles on either side of the trail. The final meetings are set for March 1 and March 4 at 6 p.m. at beltline.org.

The legislation to create the SSD was introduced at a Jan. 19 Atlanta City Council meeting, which was the first time most residents and business owners had heard of the plan. BeltLine officials said the SSD was needed to complete the trail because the tax allocation district (TAD) created to fund construction is projected to generate $1 billion less than expected.

The Old Fourth Ward Business Association held a quickly-called community forum on Jan. 28 for business owners to ask city and BeltLine officials questions about the SSD.

Councilmember Amir Farokhi said completing the entire BeltLine will be beneficial to the city, but he questioned the geographical boundary of the SSD and said he was concerned it would put Community Improvement Districts (CIDs), a self-taxing scheme that keeps improvement funds in a specific neighborhood, in jeopardy.

Nichole A. Hall, the administrator for the West End CID, said her board had “strong concerns” about the SSD’s financial impact and questioned the rush by BeltLine officials to get the legislation approved by this autumn.

“We’re already paying an additional tax,” Hall said, noting that West End business owners pay 5 mills extra into the CID. “We have concerns that this SSD will hinder our expansion and cut into revenue. And why do this now while we’re in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic? Our business owners in West End are hurting. Could it be delayed?”

Katharine Chestnut, who owns the Alkaloid co-working space along the BeltLine, said she was not expecting her business to recover from the economic crisis until 2022. “This fall is too soon,” Chestnut said. “Businesses are suffering. Give us a chance to recover. Maybe the big property developers can suck up this cost, but we are still reeling. Please put it off for at least a year.”

BeltLine CEO Clyde Higgs contended that the SSD has to be established now to beat the clock on the expiration of the TAD. He said that he had spoken to other business owners who were willing to pay the extra tax because they wanted faster completion of the trail to generate foot traffic.

Johnny Martinez, who co-owns Joystick Gamebar and Georgia Beer Garden, said neither of his businesses get foot traffic from