Milton County Update
How they
Plan to Split North Fulton Off into Milton County
We posed the following questions to
State Representative Mark Burkhalter, one of the proponents of splitting
North Fulton off into a resurrected Milton County. Here are the answers we
received from him.
-
QUESTION:
What happens to the schools built in North Fulton? Can a Milton School
System be formed?
ANSWER:
A new school system could be formed at the same
time a new county is established. It, too, requires a constitutional vote.
-
QUESTION:
Would a Milton School System have to buy existing schools from Fulton
County Schools?
ANSWER:
The transfer of school properties would likely be
similar to the transfer of assets (parks, etc.) when the new cities were
established.
-
QUESTION:
If SPLOST III passes will Milton residents continue paying the 1% sales
tax to Fulton Schools until it expires in 2012?
ANSWER:
The SPLOST III vote would likely be a separate
referendum vote. However, I believe it is important to remember the
majority of the schools and those benefiting from SPLOST are in
North Fulton (Milton
County). Either way, we can amend the law to fairly divide up SPLOST
monies.
-
QUESTION:
What are the boundaries on the southern side of Milton are you including
Buckhead?
ANSWER:
The boundaries are still yet to be determined and
would be established by statute of the General Assembly after the
feasibility study is completed.
-
QUESTION:
If Buckhead is included would the schools be purchased from Atlanta Public
Schools?
ANSWER:
First, Buckhead will likely not be included but
certainly would be considered by the study. Either way, the city of
Atlanta schools will
likely remain separate.
-
QUESTION:
How do you handle the all of the bonds predicated on the existence of
Fulton County? Won't they all need to be restructured?
ANSWER: The bonds would certainly have to
be restructured.
-
QUESTION:
Will taxes in Milton County be reduced or frozen by statute?
ANSWER: The taxes would either be reduced
or frozen by statute.
-
QUESTION:
How much will it cost to build Milton jails, courts, sheriff's office and
libraries?
ANSWER:
The study will have to determine this, however,
it’s possible to have a new county and continue to share a court/jail system
that currently exists. Again, a subject of the study.
-
QUESTION:
Would county facilities need to be purchased from Fulton County like Sandy
Springs paid for Fire Department buildings?
ANSWER:
The transfer would likely be similar to the
transfer of assets (parks, etc.) when the new cities were established.
-
QUESTION:
What happens with the contribution to MARTA from what would be Milton?
Does it go away?
ANSWER:
Marta is a contract that could be renegotiated and
we will likely pass a law requiring such.
-
QUESTION:
What happens to the funding for Grady?
ANSWER:
Same as #10 above.
-
QUESTION:
Will the referendum to form the county be a countywide Fulton vote?
ANSWER:
There will be no other referendum other than the
statewide constitutional question allowing the General Assembly to recreate
counties that formally existed (Milton)
by statute. (law)
