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JULY 2019 • VOL. 11 — NO. 7
Brookhaven Reporter
DUNWOODY SALUTES AMERICA WITH ANNUAL FOURTH OF JULY PARADE See pull-out section pages 15-18
DeKalb transit master plan moves ahead, would need sales tax boost
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PBS to air local singer’s documentary P5
BY DYANA BAGBY
COMMENTARY
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GDOT chief: ‘Benefits of express lanes are proven’
The proposed full-penny DeKalb County transit master plan scenario would include four light rapid transit routes; four bus rapid transit routes including along the top end of I-285; and eight arterial rapid transit routes. These expansions would cover 180 project miles.
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Development Authority to issue $1.1B in bonds for CHOA campus
BY DYANA BAGBY
dyanabagby@reporternewspapers.net
The Brookhaven Development Authority in June approved issuing $1.1 billion in tax exempt revenue bonds to
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta for the massive development of its North Druid Hill Campus that will include a new $1.5 billion hospital slated to open in 2025. The deal does not put the city on the
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The DeKalb County Board of Commissioners is expected next month to consider a countywide transit master plan designed to improve current rail and bus service and determine where to build new transit over the next 30 years. As part of that consideration, commissioners will also have to decide if they believe voters are motivated enough to vote for a sales tax increase to pay for the proposed improvements, which include light rail, bus rapid transit and arterial rapid transit in north and south DeKalb. DeKalb County, the Atlanta Regional Commission and MARTA worked with local municipalities and gathered public input over the past year on a proposed transit master plan with three broad goals: address the county’s mobility challenges, foster economic development and improve quality of life. Consultants with VHB recently toured DeKalb cities and in June made presentations on proposed and conceptual transit master plans to the Brookhaven and Dunwoody City Councils. Both presentations spotlighted two scenarios: a 1 cent sales tax increase that would raise $3.65 billion over 30 years and fund 16 projects, and a halfpenny increase that would raise $1.85 billion over 30 years and fund 15 projects. Increasing the sales tax requires a vote. DeKalb’s current sales tax is 8 percent. Going to a referendum is a major decision, Grady Smith, VHB project manager, told the Brookhaven council at its June 10 See DEKALB on page 31
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