The ABCs of the SSD (Part 2 of 2)
Another creative piece of the funding pie for BeltLine Rail: Salad.
Part 2 of 2
In last week’s blog, we went deep on how cities use special Special Services Districts (SSDs) to tax property. Then our co-chair Patty Durand got a chance to go ED (Even Deeper), identifying two key issues in the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Today we’ll talk a bit about another innovative type of SSD: the SALAD.
The City of Atlanta’s Transportation Plan calls for four new direct connections between MARTA and BeltLine rail. These new spots where you can jump from BeltLine rail onto a MARTA train are called ‘infill stations’ since they are being built after the fact. A SALAD (short for Station Area Land Assessment District) increases the millage rate on the property around within a 1/4-mile radius around these four new infill stations. SALADs are the best way to capture a tiny part of the land value increase around the station to help pay for the infill station and the valuable community amenities that will surround it.
The Beltline was never meant to be a gonzo profit machine for developers and landowners while citizens pay the costs through sales taxes. We commend the city for recognizing that fact and thus requiring businesses that benefit from a completed BeltLine trail to help pay through the proposed SSD.
BUT… we oppose the current SSD because it does not go far enough. At only $100 million, it cannot help pay for the transit portion of the BeltLine, which is the truly transformational component of the project. And once an SSD is passed, its definition cannot be altered, so the lack of any SALADs in this particular one will lock out an important mechanism for paying for rail on the BeltLine.
For this reason, we recommend a two-tiered approach to the SSD, where undeveloped property around each of the four infill MARTA stations pays an additional millage rate on top of the base rate applicable across the BeltLine SSD as a whole. This will capture a tiny amount of added value to property owners and developers at the junctions of MARTA and the BeltLine.
Transit helps solve Atlanta’s mobility problems. Transit allows greater density in housing so more affordable housing stock can be built. Transit allows families to have fewer (or no) vehicles by having an extensive transit network. Transit on the BeltLine connects 45 Atlanta neighborhoods separated by highways and segregation; and it creates the emerald necklace of a 22-mile green rail bed adorned with 13 new and expanded parks and mixed used communities.
Everyone knows you have to eat your vegetables before you get dessert. Come on, City Council! It’s SALAD time.