Proposed City of Mulberry
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Fiscal Impact Study
Proposed City of Mulberry Impacts
Revenue Loss
It is estimated that Gwinnett would lose approximately $9.1 million in revenue annually from the creation of the city of Mulberry.
Almost one-third of the annual revenue loss would be from the loss of insurance premium taxes, which are used to fund police operations, requiring either reduced service levels or an increase in property taxes to account for this loss.
To better determine its actual revenue loss, Gwinnett is obtaining a fiscal impact study from a public research university using the most recent fiscal year 2023 financial information.
The feasibility study performed by KB Advisory Group to determine that the proposed city of Mulberry would be financially feasible used FY 2022 financial information.
According to the feasibility study, “As FY 2022 immediately followed the state’s emergence from the COVID pandemic, it may not necessarily have been a typical year for most of the comparable cities analyzed in this report.”
Service Delivery
The creation of the city of Mulberry would require revising the current Service Delivery Strategy, or SDS, between the County, the new city of Mulberry, and the existing 16 cities.
The providers of services to the future residents of Mulberry would be determined by new, renegotiated service agreements.
The costs of services to be charged to the future residents of Mulberry would be determined by new, renegotiated service agreements.
The city of Mulberry could provide municipal services in addition to the three services listed in its charter without a future referendum of its residents. i
Property Taxes
The city of Mulberry could impose property taxes and other fees on its residents without a future referendum of its residents. ii
Zoning
The proposed city of Mulberry would be primarily residential, with the smallest commercial tax base of any city in Gwinnett. iii
From 2021 through the present, no multi-family apartment cases have been approved by the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners within the area of the proposed city of Mulberry.
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“Charter provisions, whether enacted locally or by local Act of the Georgia General Assembly, that artificially limit a municipal corporation’s ability to provide a service it is otherwise legally authorized to provide or requiring that the provision of a new service be contingent upon a referendum are unconstitutional.” (Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia, City of Peachtree Corners Charter Review, November 2017).
“It is not possible to create a municipality in Georgia which has less than all of the powers of a full-fledged municipality.” (Correspondence from H. Jeff Lanier, Deputy Legislative Counsel, to Senator John Albers, October 7, 2015).
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“It was brought to the Committee’s attention by Legislative Counsel that although imposing an ad valorem millage rate cap in a municipal charter is constitutionally permissible, it can be removed by the municipality under its home rule powers. This may inadvertently mislead some voters who are voting on a proposed incorporation into thinking that the cap cannot be increased without a referendum. Because of the potential for confusion, the Committee recommends that language be inserted into charters including a millage cap that clarifies that the caps can indeed be increased by a city council through its home rule powers and without voter approval.” (The Final Report of the Senate Annexation, Deannexation, and Incorporation Study Committee of the Georgia General Assembly, 2015).
“It is not possible to create a municipality in Georgia which has less than all of the powers of a full-fledged municipality.” (Correspondence from H. Jeff Lanier, Deputy Legislative Counsel, to Senator John Albers, October 7, 2015).
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“Mulberry would be primarily a city of homeowners occupying single-family detached housing” and that “only 149 parcels and 680 acres with a combined digest of $137.3 million are classified as nonresidential property … less than 5% its total tax base, the smallest percentage of any city in Gwinnett County.” (Feasibility Study for the City of Mulberry by KB Advisory Group, December 2023).