The Myths of Starting a City
Cityhood Means Higher Taxes = False
The reality is your taxes are more likely to stay the same or go down than go up with cityhood. What do Sandy Springs, Johns Creek, Milton, Chattahoochee Hills, Dunwoody, Brookhaven and Peachtree Corners all have in common? They are all new metro area cities with tax rates that are lower than the unincorporated areas of their counties. Additionally, the feasibility study performed by the University of Georgia shows that Mableton will have a $3.2 million annual surplus without increasing property taxes.
Concentrated Power with City Officials = False
Cityhood does the exact opposite. Cityhood spreads out power by providing one representative per 13,000 residents instead of the current very concentrated power at the county of one representative per 191,700 residents.
Mableton Would Have Unlimited Power = False
No city in Georgia has unlimited power. Mableton would have to operate within the laws of Georgia and the United States just like every other city in Georgia.
Cityhood Means Unlimited Spending = False
Spending in the city will be far more responsive to the citizens than the spending at the county level. Please keep in mind that the county just raised taxes 12.63% for 2022.
We are Being Forced to Incorporate = False
The people of the area have been given the right to vote on a referendum to decide if the City of Mableton should be created.
No Existing Services Infrastructure = False
There are experienced incorporation vendors who have existing infrastructure to provide city services. They provide services for cities all over Georgia and other states as well. The vast majority of the new cities in the metro used vendors to provide a substantial portion of their initial services.
Cityhood is a Land and Power Grab = False
Cityhood distributes power to the people who live in our area and provides a more responsive government. The proposed city boundaries were drawn by state in accordance with state law and policies. State law is designed to assure cityhood efforts are inclusive and don’t create service delivery issues for the county. Only State Representatives and Senators were allowed to request changes to the map.
I Will Have to Change My Address = False
The United States Postal Service doesn’t care about city boundaries. Cityhood will have no impact on your mailing address. There are people who live within the City of Smyrna who have Mableton mailing addresses. Truist Park has an Atlanta mailing address and isn’t even in the same county as Atlanta.
Cityhood Is Just Another Layer of Government = False
Cityhood provides a much needed layer of government that can be responsive to the needs of the community. The American system of government is based on layers of government to bring government closer to the people. Imagine what our country would be like if all government was based in Washington D.C.
My Property Value Will Go Down With Cityhood = False
Cityhood generally increases property values as the city is better positioned to bring economic development to the city and deal with adverse conditions that keep property values low.
The Cityhood Effort was Rushed and Mysterious = False
Nothing could be further from the truth. The effort was started in 2017 after years of talk about cityhood and has always been a grassroots effort. There have been dozens of community meetings, numerous newspaper articles and television coverage about the Mableton cityhood efforts. Websites and social media have been used. Some of our elected officials have utilized their newsletters and town halls to inform residents about the cityhood effort. Finally, there were legal notices and a legislative process that stretched from 2019 to 2022. We strongly believe that if voters are informed, voting yes will be easy.