Gwinnett approves Tax Allocation District (TAD)

The county commission voted unanimously Tuesday to create five TADs in Gwinnett, giving the county a method of financing redevelopment projects that has proven successful in Atlanta.

TADs allow local governments to pay for projects with bonds that are then repaid from the higher property tax revenues those improvements generate.

Three of the Gwinnett TADs will be located along the Interstate 85 corridor, including the OFS site, a former fiber optics plant on Jimmy Carter Boulevard in Norcross, the Gwinnett Place Mall area and along Indian Trail east of I-85. The other two will be in the U.S. 78 corridor in the Snellville area.

Tuesday’s vote should be seen as a sign that Gwinnett County is now committed to infill development, said Nick Masino, the Gwinnett Chambers' vice president for economic development.

Gwinnett long was derided as a poster child for suburban sprawl.

From: Gwinnett OKs redevelopment financing tool
Bizjournals.com

Alfie Meek, county director of Economic Analysis, has estimated the five areas together have a taxable value of about $640.3 million, which is 2.1 percent of the county’s tax digest.

Meek added that he expects the TADs to produce more than 8,700 new housing units, 1,500 hotel rooms, and 3 million square feet of new retail with a total market value of $4 billion.

Chuck Warbington, executive director of the Gwinnett Village Community Improvement District, said this could mean as many as 36,000 new jobs and provide $1.6 billion in payroll.

From: Gwinnett Approves Tax Allocation Districts
Atlanta Journal-Constitution