A Play-by-Play on how the Board of Commissioners Nearly shifted the $40 million
Park Bond 2008 Referendum funds into the Braves stadium
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Yes, the Board of Commissioners really misappropriated Park Bond 2008 Referendum funds into the Braves stadium. It happened officially on September 27, 2016 when the 2017 Budget was approved. But the money shift to the Braves without funding the 2008 Park Bond had been planned since 2013.
Meanwhile, Park Bond supporters have been asking the Board to fund the voter-approved Park Bond 2008 Referendum, since Cobb voters approved the $40 million for parkland purchase in a landslide election 8 years ago. AJC article on "Why money for Braves stadium has Cobb parks green with envy". The irony? The Board of Commissioners could easily fund the $40 million Park Bond Referendum from 2008 voters overwhelmingly approved AND the new $400 million Braves stadium with the .33 mills of property taxes available in the Debt Service Fund. The score: Today, zero acres of parkland has been purchased with the Park Bond 2008 Referendum, but the Braves $400 million stadium bond is funded for 30 years with the exact tax money earmarked for $40 million Park Bond repayment. |
Here's a timeline of events + key information to understand this long-term financial shell game.
2008Park Bond 2008 Referendum passes with 67% of the vote
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2009Cobb County's Citizen Advisory Committee volunteers for 10 months and recommends 29 properties as ideal parkland
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2010Chairman Olens postpones issuing the $40 million Park Bond 2008 Referendum
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2011Debt Service Fund which pays for Park Bonds and other loans raised by .1 to .33 mills, exactly enough to cover Park Bond 2008
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2012The economy improves but the Board does not issue Park Bond 2008 as voters approved. Instead Park Bond 2006 is repaid faster.
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2013Under Chairman Lee, Braves stadium deal approved with plan to shift .33 mill of Debt Service Fund property taxes earmarked for Park Bond 2008 repayment into new stadium bonds
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2014
The $40 million Question: Do the Braves want to play in a stadium paid with Park Bond 2008 funds?
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Here the County clearly states the property taxes are shifted from the Debt Service Fund, but note the $40 million Park Bond 2008 Referendum has not been funded.
From Cobb County Braves FAQ Page: "Will my property taxes be used to pay for this (the new Braves stadium)? Currently .33 mills of your property taxes pay for the parks bonds that were issued in 1996, 2007 and 2008. The last of those bonds will be paid off in 2017 and 2018. The millage will then be shifted to the General Fund when these bonds expire to raise an equivalent amount of revenues of $8.67 million. Those monies will then be used to pay for bonds to finance SunTrust Park construction. The average amount of .33 mills per household is $26 per year and this shift of funding will not impact other government services such as police, libraries, parks and other services." |
2015
The Reason for the Extra Push to Fund Park Bond 2008? Many of the chosen Park Bond 2008 properties are under threat of development.
For many properties, these 8 years have been too long to wait, and the Park Bond 2008 listed properties have been bulldozed for commercial or residential developments. 
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The Cobb Parks Coalition, which helped both Park Bond 2006 and Park Bond 2008 Referendums get on the ballot, re-starts a grassroots effort to push the Commissioners to finally fully fund Park Bond 2008 before moving the exact millage into the Braves stadium for 30 years.
The Debt Service Fund millage earmarked for Park Bond repayment will fund $270 of the $400 million Braves stadium bond. The rest of the money to pay for the Braves stadium will come from other taxes and fees. In September and October 2015 Members of the Cobb Parks Coalition meet with each Commissioner to impress on them the ease of funding Park Bond 2008 with the existing millage rate in the Debt Service Fund as planned, and explaining how important this be done before shifting the property taxes earmarked for Park Bond repayment into the Braves stadium bond. Literally thousands of emails have been sent on this topic to the commissioners. In November 2015 The good news: Chairman Lee announced only .23 mills of property tax of the entire .33 available is needed to fund the $270 million portion of the Braves stadium bond, so that would leave .1 mills, exactly the property tax rate required to pay for the Park Bond 2008. |
2016
January 2016
The good news: Chairman Lee announces he will restart the 2008 Park Bond Referendum process.
The bad news: Lee wants to start another 10-month property evaluation for the county, even though the original 29 properties the Cobb County Citizen Advisory Committee are not only fully vetted and ready for purchase, but many are under threat of development. By this time, many beautiful park bond properties selected have been bulldozed for development, leaving communities with no neighborhood parks as promised by the county in 2008 and 2009.
The other bad news: The plan is to "revisit the issuance of the Park Bonds" but does not start funding. A Referendum can be funded anytime, and Park Bond 2008 is not tied to the budget cycle. Referendums are a direct vote and therefore legally binding as soon as they are approved by voters.
April 2016
The good news: The Cobb Parks Coalition re-nominates all the 2009 property list properties.
The good news: Chairman Lee announces he will restart the 2008 Park Bond Referendum process.
The bad news: Lee wants to start another 10-month property evaluation for the county, even though the original 29 properties the Cobb County Citizen Advisory Committee are not only fully vetted and ready for purchase, but many are under threat of development. By this time, many beautiful park bond properties selected have been bulldozed for development, leaving communities with no neighborhood parks as promised by the county in 2008 and 2009.
The other bad news: The plan is to "revisit the issuance of the Park Bonds" but does not start funding. A Referendum can be funded anytime, and Park Bond 2008 is not tied to the budget cycle. Referendums are a direct vote and therefore legally binding as soon as they are approved by voters.
April 2016
The good news: The Cobb Parks Coalition re-nominates all the 2009 property list properties.
Mike Boyce won the election with 64% of the vote on a platform to fund the $40 million Park Bond as voters approved. He has pledged to fund the 2008 Park Bond when he is in office.
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July 2016
On the day before the election, the Board adopts Chairman Lee's proposal to lower the Debt Service Fund by .1 mills of the total .33 mills (about $8 / year for the average homeowner), knowing the Braves take the other .23 mills on October 1, 2016. Thus, the Debt Service Fund will be zeroed out, unprecedented in at least the last 20 years. Hundreds of emails were sent to Chairman Lee and the other Commissioners about averting this course of action, but still, the Board adopted Chairman Lee's proposal to lower the exact amount of property taxes already earmarked for Park Bond 2008 payment. |
September 2016
The bad news: The Board officially shifts the earmarked tax money for the $40 million Park Bond 2008 Referendum into the new $400 million Braves stadium bond account for 30 years. The Park Bond 2008 could have been quickly paid for in just a few short years because the Braves money is actually moving 2 years earlier than planned because of the extra funds in the Debt Service Fund due to the booming economy meant Park Bond 2006 was repaid faster.
The other bad news: To add insult to injury, after delaying the Park Bond 2008 funding for years, Chairman Lee said only a certain amount of the park bond remains, $24.7 million out of $40 million. Under Chairman Lee, the Board of Commissioners has basically taken away $15 million from a $40 million voter approved referendum before the 2008 Park Bond game even starts. It's like a baseball game, if a game is postponed due to rain, the next game doesn't start with the home team down 15 runs. Or like when a timeout gets called, again, the home team doesn't come back to find the other team is 15 runs ahead. It's a timeout.
Why can the property taxes be shifted into the Braves before 2006 Park Bond is repaid in 2018? Since 2008 Park Bond hasn't been funded, all the extra property tax money went towards the other 2006 Park Bond, so it has been paid off 2 years early. Meanwhile 2008 Park Bond still hasn't been issued.
The good news: District 3 Joanne Birrell proposed funding at least some of the Park Bond on October 25.
Commissioner Cupid eloquently stated: "If the public voted, we have the obligation to respond to that ... This is about public trust."
The bad news: The Board officially shifts the earmarked tax money for the $40 million Park Bond 2008 Referendum into the new $400 million Braves stadium bond account for 30 years. The Park Bond 2008 could have been quickly paid for in just a few short years because the Braves money is actually moving 2 years earlier than planned because of the extra funds in the Debt Service Fund due to the booming economy meant Park Bond 2006 was repaid faster.
The other bad news: To add insult to injury, after delaying the Park Bond 2008 funding for years, Chairman Lee said only a certain amount of the park bond remains, $24.7 million out of $40 million. Under Chairman Lee, the Board of Commissioners has basically taken away $15 million from a $40 million voter approved referendum before the 2008 Park Bond game even starts. It's like a baseball game, if a game is postponed due to rain, the next game doesn't start with the home team down 15 runs. Or like when a timeout gets called, again, the home team doesn't come back to find the other team is 15 runs ahead. It's a timeout.
Why can the property taxes be shifted into the Braves before 2006 Park Bond is repaid in 2018? Since 2008 Park Bond hasn't been funded, all the extra property tax money went towards the other 2006 Park Bond, so it has been paid off 2 years early. Meanwhile 2008 Park Bond still hasn't been issued.
The good news: District 3 Joanne Birrell proposed funding at least some of the Park Bond on October 25.
Commissioner Cupid eloquently stated: "If the public voted, we have the obligation to respond to that ... This is about public trust."
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The October 2016 Surprises District 3 Commissioner JoAnn Birrell confirmed she is postponing her proposed resolution to fund $24.7 of the Park Bond on October 25 until November 8, 2016. On October 21, 2016 Chairman Tim Lee announced his new plan NOT to fund Park Bond 2008 at all during his tenure because he says he doesn't want to raise taxes for the Park Bond 2008. This is highly ironic because he just lowered the taxes for this exact Park Bond 2008 in July, and then shifted the rest of the funds into the Braves in September! |
In other words, The Braves stadium bond is now being paid with the funds earmarked for the $40 million Park Bond 2008 Referendum, even though there has been more than enough funds to pay for both bonds. Also, the Braves bond wasn't scheduled to start until 2017, so an entire year of property taxes from the Debt Service Fund (about $10 million dollars + another $6.4 million according to a new letter) would have gone directly into the Park Bond 2008, as planned, if it had not been shifted to the Braves on October 1, 2016.
Chairman Lee said no taxes would be raised to fund the Braves Stadium, but now he says taxes need to be raised for the Park Bond 2008, even though the exact property taxes are shifted from the Park Bond repayment program into the Braves stadium, and the other earmarked taxes were cut from the fund to pay for Park Bond 2008. Again, funding both the Park Bond 2008 and the Braves could be accomplished, but the Board has not followed through on this YET.
Stay tuned for more updates.
Stay tuned for more updates.
On Tuesday, April 11, 2017, the Cobb County Board of Commissioners finally provided partial funding of the 2008 Park Bond in the amount of $27.5 million to buy land for parks.
The Park Bond 2008 Referendum:
Cobb voters passed a $40 million Park Bond referendum in 2008 to buy properties to save as parks. On April 11, 2017, the Board of Commissioners provided $27.5 million towards Park Bond funding, so now $12.5 million more is needed to fulfill the referendum. Please help us secure the remaining $12.5 million to fulfill the voter-approved $40 million Park Bond referendum by emailing the Board of Commissioners to encourage them to keep going.
Cobb voters passed a $40 million Park Bond referendum in 2008 to buy properties to save as parks. On April 11, 2017, the Board of Commissioners provided $27.5 million towards Park Bond funding, so now $12.5 million more is needed to fulfill the referendum. Please help us secure the remaining $12.5 million to fulfill the voter-approved $40 million Park Bond referendum by emailing the Board of Commissioners to encourage them to keep going.
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Cobb County Chairman Mike Boyce officially signing $27.5 Million of the $40 Million Park Bond 2008 Referendum on Tuesday, April 11, 2017 with Parks Director Jimmy Gisi, County Manager David Hankerson, and Cobb Parks Coalition representatives Norman Fagge, Roberta Cook, Morning Washburn and Joe O'Connor. Roberta and Morning are holding a cup representing $40 million Park Bond amount.
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