The City of Mableton‘s government continues to take shape, and the preliminaries necessary for the city to have a revenue stream have begun.

Cobb County announced that the first meeting to hammer out an intergovernmental agreement between the new city and the county has taken place.

The county posted the following on its website:

“Cobb County leaders hosted what will be the first of many meetings with representatives of the new city of Mableton.  Voters approved a new south Cobb city during last November’s election, and elected a Mayor and City Council earlier this year.

“The first major task of the new city is to begin collecting taxes, fees and start the new city’s revenue stream.  Mayor Michael Owens told the group he was eager to move the new city forward and begin communication with its residents.  Attorney Emilia Walker-Ashby, representing the new city, said her goal was to “ensure our transition is in harmony and cohesion with the county.”

“County leaders, including the Chief Financial Officer and county attorneys, will work with Mableton officials to weave through the difficult legal and logistical issues ahead.  After several issues were identified, both sides committed to researching them before the next in a series of meetings to help Mableton through its two-year transition period.”

The third transitional meeting of the city council

The third public meeting of the Mableton City Council will take place this evening, June 21, at 6:30 p.m. at the Riverside EpiCenter, 135 Riverside Pkwy, Austell, GA 30168. 

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What do the Mayor and City Council think residents should pay attention to?

The Courier sent inquiries to Mayor Michael Owens and to members of the city council about what items on the agenda (or other upcoming discussions) they think Mableton residents would be most interested in following.

[Editor’s note: we don’t yet have direct contact information for all the council members, so we used social media messaging. Consequently, lack of reply from a council member doesn’t mean they are nonresponsive. It just means the Courier needs to step up getting direct contact information]

Mayor Michael Owens:

“The most notable thing is that we will be doing the first read of our ordinances for franchise agreements with utilities that operate within Mableton.

“After tomorrow, we will start negotiating with those companies so we can begin to receive revenue from these sources. We will then come back to the council with negotiated agreements for the second read and a vote for approval.

“If you remember from the feasibility study, franchise fees were the top source of funds.”

District 3 Councilwoman Keisha Jeffcoat

“It’s important for our residents to know that we are working diligently to build a strong foundation for our city. This starts with establishing the basic framework including clearly outlining the roles, responsibilities, and duties of our government and administrative departments.  

“More importantly, establishing ordinances to collect franchise fees is vital to the financial sustainability of our city. They will provide consistent revenue streams enabling us to support various projects and initiatives like infrastructure development, economic development, community programs, etc. 

“They will allow us to provide the essential services for our city so that we can operate efficiently, conduct business accordingly and enhance the quality of life for our residents.

“We’re making a lot of important decisions in a short timeframe, so we’re attending training to ensure we’re knowledgeable and well-informed to make the decisions that are in the best interest of our community. We want our residents to know that their well-being and the long-term growth of our city are at the forefront of our efforts, and so far, we’re off to a good start.”

District 4 Councilwoman Patricia Auch

“The public is going to want to pay close attention to the last item on the agenda: “Approval of Resolution Authorizing Deferred Costs for Mableton City Councilmembers to Participate in Statewide Georgia Municipal Association Training”.  

“The resolution is incredibly vague. There is no cap or estimated dollar amount as to what can or will be spent. The council has also been offered other training options by GMA that are catered more specifically to our training needs as a new city, that will be more affordable, have more time to plan, and where the entire council can attend. 

“The topic of GMA  has already been a somewhat contentious one among the council due to how poorly it has been communicated. We were too late to register for the classes as they were full anyway, so it’s not even guaranteed we can get in the classes to take the training. According to councilwoman Herndon, who attended a meeting with a GMA representative, GMA advised that the GMA convention should not be a priority. 

“The questions people are going to want to ask (or should be asking) are: 

1.) what is the dollar amount being deferred?

2.) what expenses are expected to be reimbursed by our taxpayers? Is it just GMA registration costs? Or is it hotel, gas, food, bar tab, classes, registration, and attendance to awards dinner? What does that cost come to? 

3.) will this cost be repaid with a TAN?

“The GMA convention sounds like a lot of fun, and will be a great networking opportunity to attend in the future. But the city doesn’t have a budget. The plans for the convention has been rushed and half-baked. There are more affordable training opportunities available that better suit our needs. I don’t think it’s financially responsible to be incurring debt of unspecified amounts especially without a budget in place. I think we need to skip the GMA convention this year and plan to attend next year if we have the budget for it.”

District 5 Councilman and Mayor Pro Tem T.J. Ferguson:

“As we go through the process of setting up this City, there are a number of items which we must discuss in this meeting format because it takes a majority vote from the Council for us to move forward.

“In previous meetings we discussed the need to begin the process of working with the County & utilities around Franchise Fees and other revenue streams for the City; so this meeting is filled with First Read Agenda items to discuss the preliminary findings. Which means we are going to hear the proposal based on the information gathered, open the table for discussion then agree to move on to the next item. 

“In my opinion, it’s important for your readers to understand that while none of these agenda items are going to seem glamorous, they are the most critical tasks we can be undertaking at this point.”  

District 6 Councilwoman Debora Herndon

“In reading through the agenda and accompanying materials, there are two things that people should pay attention to:

“1.  The city will be collecting franchise fees, which is one source of revenue outlined in the feasibility study. At this time, it is unclear whether the amount (and type) of franchise fees imposed by the city will be the same or greater than what is levied by Cobb County. It would be prudent for residents of Mableton to take a look at their cable, gas, electric, telecommunication, and insurance premiums (including life and accidental death policies) to determine the financial impact. There will likely be additional franchise fees levied later, such as motor vehicle fees and hotel/motel fees, but these fees will not have the monthly impact like the other franchise fees will.

“2. The last ordinance, dealing with deferred costs for Mableton City Councilmembers to Participate in the statewide Georgia Municipal Association training. The GMA has offered specialized training for all city council members in the third week of July. During the GMA meeting I attended with Mayor Owens and Keisha Jeffcoat, it was stated by GMA personnel that attendance at the conference should not be a priority given the city’s current financial situation. There are no dollar amounts provided in this ordinance, so taxpayers are on the hook for an unknown cost.  Also, given the fact that we will be getting training from GMA about three weeks after the conference, which also has a cost but far less expensive, attending the GMA conference at this juncture is not the best use of the city’s resources.”