Julian Bene

Pridemore quits PSC so that Kemp - the stooge of Georgia Power and the data center industry - can prevent the voters from electing a reformer.
Kemp can be expected to put in another industry patsy who will keep screwing over the #GApol public.

Police failure to divert petty misdemeanors from the Jail has been a scandal. Great resolution by Kelsea Bond!

#GApol
One day perhaps we'll have a reformer as Mayor of Atlanta. Until then, this constant drip.
During the Gulch litigation we caught City Law giving bond counsel work to the same firm for years without bids - in direct violation of a City ordinance. Zero consequences, natch.

Btw, if the Beltline properties are properly appraised, TADs will be worth far more than 17.5% of the city's tax base.
QTS's new data centers alone are worth over $2 Billion.
The Eastside Trail trophy offices are worth a billion more than their current appraisal.

Georgia House bill could thwart Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens' proposed TAD extension - Atlanta Business Chronicle A bill introduced in the state House would set a limit on renewing tax allocation districts, which allow property tax revenue to be set aside to fund projects within the same area.

Could #GApol Rs save ATL from its electeds on the TAD extension folly?
Usually, state legislators interfere in malign ways. Here, they'd be doing us a favor.
No city & schools can afford to treat 17.5% of its property tax as play money for boondoggles.
www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news...

“While PGC meetings are not publicly attended, they are not secret." - MARTA CEO.
Not publicly attended = closed. So the meetings are indeed secret.
How long after the meeting did news of the decision become public? Many months, right? So it was secret.
Whose tax money is it?
Case closed.
#GApol

#GApol

Which is why anyone who in good faith supports extending the Beltline TAD is naive. Plenty of grifters will support it in bad faith, of course.
#GApol

Georgia can afford better choices on health care and energy This essay responds to Senator Matt Brass’s recent opinion column outlining his legislative priorities and record under the Gold Dome.

Great dissection of Sen. Matt Brass's sham curb on data-center tax breaks. Past time to hold these special-interest puppets accountable. #GApol
www.times-herald.com/opinion/geor...

#Gapol There's a major attack on GA's ag sector exports at 0.35. But y'all will adore his pronunciation of our leading nut.

#GApol

We'll see. Signs of good faith from Cmmrs Pitts & Ellis in working meetings w/ appraisal staff & me.
Lee Morris - always strong - led BoA to approve valuing new data centers fully, potentially worth $100M this year.
Ivory, Arrington, Barrett, Thorne in denial. Need 3 good Commission replacements.

Any discussion of voter thinking that ignores the oligarch-media's outsized influence on that thinking is surely useless?

This is new!
#GApol Senate Dems seem to have their act together, their message clear and their video slick.

Fulton audit to see if commercial property owners pay their share of taxes Fulton’s top elected official plans to find out whether the owners of office buildings, hotels and data centers are being asked to pay their fair share in property taxes.

Why doesn't the #GApol state sales-ratio test flag huge trophy underappraisals?
1. Because trophies all have tax breaks, on a fiction that they belong to development authorities. 'No sale occurred!'
2. Because hotels have furniture & franchise value, so sale is ignored.
www.ajc.com/business/202...

The $2.5 billion cost of GA's data center sales-tax exemption is higher than numbers usually quoted.
That's because it includes the Data Center-specific exemption and the Computer Equipment exemption and local sales tax as well as state sales tax.
Those lobbyists earn their keep!
#GApol

Maggie, look at the numbers. There's nothing unfair about bars on this graph. Job creation went far better in Dem Admins than Rs. Multiply R by 2, still bad.
Media have for decades fooled uninformed voters into believing Republicans are good for the economy. They are not. This presentation shows it.

Pitts seeks fair assessment of 'trophy properties' and data centers Fulton County Chair Robb Pitts takes action to address undervaluation of trophy properties and data centers, seeking to increase tax revenue.

Making progress here. “Thanks to Chairman Pitts’ & Board of Assessors Chair Lee Morris’ leadership, improved data-center valuation is underway, potentially worth $100M extra in 2026,” Bene said in a statement.
#GApol
roughdraftatlanta.com/2026/02/10/f...

Ah, you're just another Brandon Beacher!

I knew the working people of Alpharetta could count on you, Conor!

But getting neighborhood assocaition and NPU involved will make the ask more compelling

Contact your council member.

The Atlanta Way version of this in @mluckovich.bsky.social hands would also be funny. Not sure the Cox billionaires would approve, though.
#GApol

#GApol

Plus, the Gulch bros need TAD extension so they can pocket at least $200M in extra property tax rebates.
Let me know when any reporter gets around to reporting that juicy detail.
#GApol

Because with TADs, he pretends to be using magic money that doesn't cost anyone anything. Read the PR spin.
With the City budget, it would be, 'Hey, we have to pay the cops! Our voters don't want us to hike taxes! No!"
Plus, he couldn't promise: 'BL Rail, hospital, Amtrak station, homes, pony ...'

This graphic would work. Just add a pic of Andre siphoning off $5 Billion for his TAD extension boondoggles. Half coming from APS.

If APS & County & City can't raise taxes - because state R clowning stops locals from raising revenue - schools & services will collapse. Will be ugly.
#GApol

TAD extension, anyone?
Yes, let's defund schools and the jail, so we can pretend to be investing in projects that never get done. Transport planning consultants have to make a living, after all.
#GApol

#GApol @atlurbanist.bsky.social

Data centers promise tax gains for Georgia. But are they delivering? As Big Tech has faced pushback from communities about the hulking projects and concerns over rising energy bills, developers have leaned into big financial promises.

Good news #GApol. Fulton Assessors will appraise data centers at mkt value, raising tens of millions in 2026 property taxes. If applied to servers & GPUs, over $100M. Much more as new centers come on line.

Thank Robb Pitts, Bob Ellis & Lee Morris for making this happen.

www.ajc.com/business/202...