Decatur Officials to Vote on Scaled-Back Annexation Plan
The Decatur city commission will vote tonight on a scaled-back plan to annex parts of unincorporated DeKalb County.
The annexation plan originally picked up steam because many homeowners who lived just outside the city wanted access to Decatur’s well-regarded schools.
But Decatur City Manager Peggy Merriss said not enough of those homeowners ultimately wanted to pay the city’s higher property taxes.
“Some of the areas there was support. Once we got the petitions in, it wasn’t majority support.”
Merriss says the new plan is to annex two smaller, mostly commercial areas– one on the northwest side of the city and another on the northeast side.
“We are primarily a residential community and in terms of our property digest the city commission has wanted to diversify and add properties for a number of years.”
However, some commercial property owners in the proposed areas stand opposed, saying they also don’t want to pay the city’s higher taxes.
City commissioners vote on the annexation proposal tonight at 7:30 p.m. If it passes, the state legislature must ultimately sign off on the plan.
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