Gov. Deal Defends Signing Fulton Bill

Fulton Chairman John Eaves, who met with the governor last week to lobby against the bill, said he was disappointed with Deal’s decision.

“I think the governor chose to be politically expedient rather than look at the unfairness of what’s going on,” said Eaves.

A group of north Fulton Republicans sponsored the measure, arguing the Democratically-controlled Fulton commission is bloated and wasteful.

Deal said state lawmakers were within their right to act because the county, he argues, is overspending. 

“There was some [overspending] with regards to child care cases [and] a number of other categories that appeared to be extraordinarily high with regard to similar expenditures in other counties.”

But Fulton Chairman John Eaves argues the county’s finances are in order. He cites the fact that property taxes haven’t been raised since the early 1990s. Eaves and other county officials say the measure is a blatant power grab by north Fulton Republicans and a product of an unfair redistricting process.

“They were successful in approving the maps that assured a majority on the local delegation,” said Eaves. “There was an agenda that was determined before the session began and they were hell-bent on making sure that agenda was actualized.”

Other critics of the bill say it sets a troubling precedent in terms of state interference in local affairs.

Deal said he doesn’t see the measure starting a trend. But he did issue a warning of sorts to local governments.  

“Don’t put yourself in a posture where your local delegation feels that they have to take action at the state level to restrain your spending,” said Deal.

Recently, the Fitch credit rating agency cited the bill as an example of political discord within the county, and a reason for downgrading Fulton’s credit rating.