You can track pending legislation on the General Assembly's Web site, where you can find different versions of a bill and check its status in either chamber. Changes are not necessarily posted until the next day, though. The BeltLine bill was amended Thursday, and the new version -- which I have been looking for -- did not appear to be posted until Saturday morning.

TAD bill amended yet again to give ATL, Gainesville an "opt out"

April 1 -- House Bill 63, which would let the BeltLine and other Tax Allocation District projects use school tax money, was amended yet again this afternoon in the Senate. With the latest change, school systems in Atlanta and Gainesville could "opt out" of their earlier approval of funding.

That use of school funds was ruled unconstitutional last year. The pending legislation would make it legal again, but an amendment last week (see below) stipulated a school board's earlier vote in favor of TAD funding would stand and would not have to be revisited.

Atlanta school officials complained that would cost the system $18 million. And Gainesville school officials, who had changed their minds about their TAD commitment, wondered whether the bill would still let them back out.

The latest language gives both systems a choice, as long as they act before Gov. Sonny Perdue signs the bill into law. The bill now goes back to the House of Representatives.

(Transparency disclosure: This writer sold four boxes of Thin Mints to Rep. Kevin Levitas' family this afternoon at the Girl Scout meeting. I don't believe the transaction influenced either one of us, but others may feel differently.)

Here's the language of the latest amendment:

Section 36-44-9:

(g) Any consent by a local board of education to the inclusion of educational ad valorem property taxes as a basis for computing tax allocation increments and any authorization to use such funds for such purposes that was approved before January 1, 2009, and not rescinded or repealed prior to the effective date of this Code section is ratified and confirmed pursuant to the authority granted by Article IX, Section II, Paragraph VII of the Constitution, as amended by a resolution ratified at the November, 2008 general election, Ga. L. 2008, p. 777, to authorize the use of county, municipal, and school tax funds, or any combination thereof, for redevelopment purposes and programs notwithstanding Article VIII, Section VI or any other provision of the Constitution and regardless of whether any county, municipality, or local board of education approved the use of such tax funds for such purposes and programs before or after January 1, 2009.

ATL schools fight $18 million hit from new TAD bill

April 1 -- Atlanta Public Schools are fighting changes to a bill that would let Tax Allocation Districts spend school tax money.

A state Senate committee last week amended the bill to say a school board that had already approved a TAD would not have to vote on it again. School board chair LaChandra Butler Burks (left) says the change would cost APS $18 million.

House Bill 63 would allow local school boards to earmark tax money for TADs to pay for non-school improvements. The Georgia Supreme Court ruled last year that practice was unconstitutional, which led to Georgia voters amending the Constitution in November and the pending bill.

Butler Burks asked Sen. Horacena Tate to fight to remove the retroactive language, and to vote against the bill if the language could not be deleted.

In an interview, Butler Burks said the school system has kept $18 million collected for the BeltLine and another TAD because bonds for those projects have not been issued. (The tax revenue would help pay off the bonds over the years.) The system is counting on using that $18 million for schools, but would have to fork it over now to the TADs if the retroactive language remains intact.

Needless to say, no one wants an $18 million hole in their budget just about now.

Some opponents fear the retroactive language would prevent them from lobbying Atlanta school board members to withdraw their approval for the TAD, which plans on using $850 million for Atlanta's BeltLine project over the coming years.

To the north, Gainesville school officials indicated last week that they want to withdraw from that city's TAD for the time being. It has been unclear whether the amended TAD bill would give them that option.

Cagle denies role in inserting retroactive provision in TAD bill

   March 31, 2009 (update): This came in from Cagle's spokeswoman, Jaillene Hunter, in response to rumors that Cagle had asked the Senate Finance Committee to:

"To be clear, the Lt Governor had absolutely no involvement in a Senate substitute to H.B. 63. We are unaware of who suggested he was, but it is a completely false assumption. 

"H.B. 63 reenacts the Redevelopment Powers Law relating to tax allocation districts, following the approval by the voters of a constitutional amendment authorizing such districts last November. From our understanding the substitute bill in the Senate adds language that mirrors the constitutional provision, saying that if a school system had already agreed to become part of a TAD before the constitutional amendment was approved, their agreement will not be unconstitutional. Nothing in this legislation that we are aware of will prevent any school system who is not happy with their TAD agreement from renegotiating the agreement or withdrawing from the TAD altogether. This gives appropriate flexibility to our school systems."

TAD reauthorization snags Gainesville schools (maybe Cagle, too)

   March 30, 2009 (Update): The amended House Bill 63, which reauthorizes spending of school tax money for non-school purposes in tax allocation districts, may also sweep up Gainesville city schools. Unlike Atlanta, Gainesville school officials have changed their minds and want out of the TAD there -- at least for now.

The Georgia Supreme Court ruled last year that school funds could not be spent for TADs, which led to the current legislation. Last week, a Senate committee slipped in language (reproduced below) to say a school board's past vote for TAD funding is still considered valid.

That means a school board would not have to vote on a TAD deal a second time. But the Gainesville Times reports that the board there is backing out of the deal because of the recession. "We need every dime we can get," Superintendent Merrianne Dyer said.

At City Hall, other Gainesville officials are conferring with lawyers to see if they can hold the school board to its 2006 vote to approve the TAD spending.

The dispute could put Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, who presides over the Senate, on the hot spot. Cagle hails from Gainesville.

BeltLine funding bill would circumvent new school board vote

   March 28, 2009 -- Legislation assigning $850 million in Atlanta school taxes to the city's BeltLine project without a vote passed the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday.

   New language inserted in the bill (reproduced below) means the Atlanta Board of Education would not have to reauthorize funds to a Tax Allocation District for the BeltLine. The board's 2005 vote would be deemed sufficient, thereby averting what would almost certainly be a contentious public process.

   The full Senate will consider the amended bill in the final days of the 2009 session. The changes would still have to be reconciled with the House version of the bill.

   The Legislature's Web site does not say how individual members of the committee voted.

   The BeltLine is an ambitious initiative to spark redevelopment by adding 22 miles of light rail lines, greenspace and trails, all connecting in a circle around Atlanta's urban core. The funding includes an estimated $850 million in tax revenue from city schools, which look for a payback down the road in taxes on new BeltLine-related development.

   The Georgia Supreme Court ruled unanimously in February 2008 that the state Constitution prohibits school taxes from being spent on non-educational purposes. In November, Georgia voters amended the Constitution to allow school funding of TADs.

   Until Thursday, though, the bill would have required the school board to vote again on BeltLine funding. The bill would govern funding for other TADs in Georgia as well.

   The Fulton County Taxpayers Foundation condemned the change in a news release Friday: "The Taxpayers Foundation finds this legislative maneuver to be an outrageous abuse of the Atlanta taxpayers."

   Here's the pertinent language of the bill:

   (g) Any consent by a local board of education to the inclusion of educational ad valorem property taxes as a basis for computing tax allocation increments and any authorization to use such funds for such purposes that was approved before January 1, 2009, is ratified and confirmed pursuant to the authority granted by Article IX, Section II, Paragraph VII of the Constitution, as amended by a resolution ratified at the November, 2008, general election, Ga. L. 2008, p. 777, to authorize the use of county, municipal and school tax funds, or any combination thereof, for redevelopment purposes and programs notwithstanding Article VIII, Section VI or any other provision of the Constitution and regardless of whether any county, municipality, or local board of education approved the use of such tax funds for such purposes and programs before or after January 1, 2009.

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