Vinings Cityhood Considered 'Fiscally Feasible': UGA Study

VININGS, GA — Vinings-area neighbors have been going through the state-required steps of creating the city of Vinings, and a new feasibility study shows cityhood could be possible without levying a property tax and still having an annual surplus.

The $22,000 study, conducted by the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson Institute of Government, is one of the required steps for creating a city and was paid for by the Vinings Exploratory Committee, Inc. — a group comprised of neighbors "who want to preserve the small-town feel of Vinings," according to the committee's website.

The Institute of Government compared the proposed area to two like governments in the metro: the cities of Tyrone and Dacula.

If Vinings — which currently sits in unincorporated Cobb County — becomes a city, it would only consist of code enforcement, planning and zoning, and parks and recreation, according to the study, which was published last week.

Because it would not include the creation of law enforcement or fire departments, which are some of the more expensive services for a municipality, "it is assumed that the proposed new city would not levy a property tax," the study reads.

According to the Vinings Exploratory Committee, the proposed city would have a nonpartisan, five-member city council with term limits. Four members would represent one of four districts within the city, while the fifth would be the mayor and could come from any part of the city.

The mayor would be elected by a plurality of all voters, while council members would be elected at-large from four districts drawn by the state.

Per the study, the proposed city of Vinings could collect nearly $3 million per year in taxes and fees, with the cost to run the government would sit at roughly $1.8 million. This would leave an approximate $1.2 million annual surplus.

You can download the full study online here.

“The only reason for a Vinings resident to oppose this, is because they’re OK with disproportionately higher taxes, and he or she doesn’t want a say and zoning in their community,” state Rep. John Carson, R-northeast Cobb, told the Marietta Daily Journal on Friday.

Carson introduced a bill — House Bill 840 — in March to incorporate the city of Vinings if residents approved the concept in a 2022 referendum. Similar bills were filed to create the cities of East Cobb, Mableton and Lost Mountain as well.

The state legislature would have to approve Carson's bill for the cityhood proposal to go before area residents by November 2022.