A Plain English Guide to the Redevelopment Powers Vote on Your Ballot
Quick Summary
On November 3, Mableton voters will decide whether to adopt the "Redevelopment Powers Law," a measure granting the city the legal authority to create Tax Allocation Districts (TADs). This financial tool aims to revitalize blighted commercial corridors by attracting private developers. It works by continuing to fund standard local services (like schools and county operations) at their current, baseline tax levels, while taking any new property tax revenue generated by the area's rising value and diverting it into a locked fund specifically to pay for the project's infrastructure upgrades.
City leaders strongly support the measure, arguing it is essential for Mableton to stay competitive with neighboring cities by shifting the cost of infrastructure improvements from residents to developers. However, regional case studies from Atlanta reveal potential pitfalls, warning that freezing tax revenues can inadvertently drain millions of dollars from future school and county operating budgets for decades. Ultimately, a "Yes" vote unlocks the city's ability to negotiate these complex redevelopment deals, while a "No" vote leaves Mableton to rely on its existing funding structures.
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When you step into the voting booth on November 3, you will see a question on the ballot regarding the future of Mableton's commercial areas:
"Redevelopment Powers Law" Referendum (Vote for One)
"Shall the Act be approved which authorizes the City of Mableton, Georgia, to exercise all redevelopment powers allowed under the 'Redevelopment Powers Law,' as it may be amended from time to time?"
⚪ Yes
⚪ No
The language may sound dry, but the question deals with a major economic decision: should Mableton unlock a specialized municipal toolbox to rebuild declining commercial corridors?
A "Yes" vote doesn’t automatically greenlight a specific project. It just gives the city the legal authority to use financial tools to attract private developers to distressed or abandoned properties.
While this law allows for several different redevelopment strategies, its single most powerful financial mechanism is the ability to create Tax Allocation Districts (TADs)—a financing tool used by local governments to attract private developers to areas that lack basic infrastructure, like good roads, sidewalks, and sewers.
Here is how a TAD could work step-by-step
Setting the Base: The city establishes a geographic boundary around a designated area and records its current total property value. The city, county, and school district continue collecting their baseline property taxes from that original value, exactly as they always have.
Closing the Gap: To attract private investment, the city agrees to help fund critical public infrastructure upgrades—such as water and sewer lines, streetscapes, or road improvements. This can be funded by the city issuing municipal bonds upfront, or arranged through a "pay-as-you-go" agreement where a developer pays for the improvements and receives reimbursements over time.
Quick side note: A municipal bond is essentially a government I.O.U. The city borrows money from investors to pay for large projects right now, and promises to pay them back later with interest.
The Increment: As new construction occurs and the area revitalizes, overall property values rise.
Because the properties are now worth more, they naturally generate more total property tax dollars—even without the city raising the actual tax rate.
The difference between the old, baseline tax amount and the new, higher tax amount is what city officials and developers call "the increment."
4. The Allocation: The original baseline tax revenue continues flowing exactly where it always has, funding the Cobb County School District, county services like police and fire, and the city's general budget. However, the extra tax revenue created by the new growth (the increment) is placed into a dedicated, locked fund used specifically to pay for or reimburse the public infrastructure costs inside the TAD.
Once the authorized costs or debts are fully paid, the TAD dissolves. From that point on, all of the newly expanded property tax revenues flow directly into regular city, county, and school operating budgets.
The View from City Leadership
During a recent community conversation hosted by the Mableton Improvement Coalition on September 8, the city's Economic Development Director, Artie Jones, III, framed the tool as a way to shift the financial burden of community upgrades away from residents.
"I can tell you from my almost three decades of experience with tax allocation districts that it is the best way to support economic development and redevelopment in communities because the funding is not coming from you as the citizens that live there already," Jones explained to the crowd. "You're not impacted. Where the impact happens is if the developer doesn't do the development, the infrastructure money isn't there for them".
If voters approve the measure, they are essentially handing Jones the exact same financial tools he has spent the last decade using in neighboring cities. Before arriving in Mableton, Jones served as the economic development director for College Park starting in 2013, and later for the City of South Fulton.
Jones’ perspective comes from decades of municipal economic development work in local cities like College Park and the City of South Fulton, both of which have established redevelopment plans and tax allocation districts to spur commercial and mixed-use growth.
Success Stories and Warning Signs: What Mableton Can Learn from Atlanta’s TAD Battles
As you continue looking across metro Atlanta, you get a clear view of both the powerful benefits and the real-world pitfalls of relying on these districts.
On the plus side, TADs can turn blighted areas into economic engines. Projects like the Atlanta BeltLine have unlocked billions in new private investment, parks, and trails. Meanwhile, the Atlantic Station TAD successfully transformed an abandoned, contaminated steel mill into a bustling mixed-use community—so much so that the district reached the end of its life, dissolving and immediately freeing up an estimated $16 million in annual property tax revenue directly for Atlanta Public Schools.
However, recent debates in Atlanta show why these tools remain contentious:
The Revenue Drain on Future Growth: When a TAD is created, the standard tax revenue (frozen "baseline), continues flowing to everyday budgets just like always.
However, as the area redevelops over the next 25 to 30 years and property values rise, the school system and county generally do not get to collect that new, extra tax money unless a special revenue-sharing agreement is negotiated. Instead, that new growth is diverted to pay for the TAD's redevelopment projects.
According to Atlanta Public Schools, this setup has redirected tens of millions of dollars annually away from public schools. In total, Atlanta Public Schools has missed out on nearly $1 billion in diverted tax dollars.
The "Never-Ending" Sunset Problem: While TADs are intended to be temporary catalysts, local governments often find it hard to give up the revenue stream. In Atlanta, a major political battle erupted when city leaders pushed to extend six expiring TADs out to the year 2056. That effort drew stiff opposition from school board leaders and Fulton County, which formally declined the extension and adopted a "Taxpayer Protection Framework" to return those tax dollars to general public use.
Displacement and Gentrification: Rapid redevelopment drives up surrounding land values. Without intentional safeguards, longtime legacy residents and small local businesses can easily be priced out by surging property taxes and rents.
The Intergovernmental Roadblock: A city cannot unilaterally take school or county tax revenues. As highlighted by Fulton County opting out of Atlanta's recent extension plans, a TAD is only as strong as its intergovernmental agreements. If Cobb County Government or the Cobb County School District declines to participate, a Mableton TAD would hold very little financial leverage.
Where Does This Leave Mableton Voters?
Residents across Mableton have voiced concerns for years about vacant storefronts, aging strip centers, and blighted properties along major corridors like Veterans Memorial Highway, Mableton Parkway, and Floyd Road. City leaders argue TADs will revitalize these corridors by attracting private developers to fund infrastructure upgrades instead of relying on city tax dollars.
Without that capability, city leadership warned that Mableton risks being left behind. As City Manager Bill Tanks put it during the town hall:
"When cities compete for developers, you have to incentivize a developer to come to your city. So if the city next door has a better incentive... they may choose that city."
On the other hand, several attendees at the community conversation raised skepticism regarding pace and oversight. Some residents questioned if granting these powers is rushing things while the new city is still setting up basic operations.
The cautionary lessons from around the region demonstrate that if economic projections fall short, or if county and school partners refuse to divert their portions of future property taxes, a TAD can stall or tie up revenue for decades.
A "Yes" vote grants the City of Mableton legal authority under Georgia’s Redevelopment Powers Law to create tax allocation districts and negotiate redevelopment financing. It does not create a specific TAD immediately; any proposed district boundaries, project plans, and developer agreements would still require future city council action and public hearings.
A "No" vote keeps the city’s current structure in place, potentially requiring private developers to fund public infrastructure on their own or leaving the city to rely on existing general funds without tax increment financing.
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