UGA Study Shows a City of Lakeside Would Be Financially Feasible

The Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia conducted the study. Alliance members say it concluded the city of Lakeside would bring in more than $35 million a year in taxes, but it would cost just under $30 million annually to run the city.

Alliance co-chair Kevin Levitas called on the group trying to form the city of Briarcliff, which encroaches on Lakeside’s proposed boundaries, to step back.

During announcement of the study results Thursday at the State Capitol, Levitas said, “The time has come, with this feasibility study out, for everybody to get together, for the folks of Briarcliff to come to the realization that this is the map that’s gonna go through, that this is the movement that’s got the most organization, most support, and we really need to understand that every step towards Briarcliff is a step away from the possibility of voting on cityhood.”

Cityhood groups from Briarcliff and Tucker have their own feasibility studies underway.

Lakeside’s Alliance says it now looks to State Senator Fran Millar to carry its bill for cityhood to the state legislature and anticipates scheduling a referendum next May.

If Lakeside does become a city, it would be Georgia’s 12th largest with some 63,000 residents.