East Cobb City?

UPDATE the study on East Cobb City came back and suggested it would start with a surplus of $3m! See https://www.eastcobbnews.com/b...

Here are the questions people are asking about the proposed East Cobb City.

Who is behind this idea?

All we know for sure is that the group is called Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb. However, who is behind that remains a mystery. It is rumored that the group comprises a group of members of Atlanta Country Club. We know it is championed by Joe Gavalis. He is President for Life of the Chattahoochee Plantation Community Association and his group has a close association with Atlanta Country Club property owners. Joe Gavalis is also good friends with Bob Ott, rumored to be the proposed Mayor of East Cobb City.

What are the boundaries of the new East Cobb City proposed?

East Cobb City would be the second largest city, next to Atlanta, in metro Atlanta. The boundaries are shown on the maps below. Inside the yellow boundary you can see Cobb County Commission District 2 (Bob Ott's area) and in the fully green area you can see the proposed East Cobb City boundary. To all intents and purposes the new City would be Bob Ott's district with the part to the West of I-75/Smyrna removed.

(thanks to MDJ Online https://www.mdjonline.com/news...)

Will there be a town square?

There is no clear idea of where the town square would be though many favor the Merchants Walk area at the corner of Roswell and Johnson Ferry Rd. Some have also suggested the corner of Johnson Ferry Rd and Lower Roswell may be being considered.

How will East Cobb City affect our schools?

Walton and Wheeler appear to be inside the boundary of the new East Cobb City. What is not clear is whether Pope is considered to be inside or outside of the boundary. The schools were mentioned in recent articles about the proposal leaving many to worry that the new East Cobb City may be planning its own school district. Because Marietta City has its own school system, there is some concern about how schools will be affected - will Walton and Wheeler become part of East Cobb City schools or will they remain part of Cobb County School District? This is an unanswered question as yet. However, the general wisdom suggests that the State Department of Education would not authorize a new independent school district.

How will taxes be affected?

It appears that those within the City can expect higher taxes.

It has been pointed out that other cities (both in Cobb county and in other counties) tend to pay the County millage PLUS city costs. Sometimes they opt out of the Fire fund and provide their own Fire Department, or similarly opt out of Police funding, but generally they have to pay full millage of the County in addition to any extra costs involved in running the City. Here is a spreadsheet showing current cities and their millage fees.

https://www.cobbtax.org/_fileU...

Mike Boyce, Cobb Chairman, has indicated that it would be impossible for the City to operate at a lower millage rate than Cobb operates within:

(thanks to CBS 46.com https://www.cbs46.com/news/cou...)

Who is in favor of the plan and who is against it?

Bob Ott, when asked whether he would accept being Mayor of the proposed City of East Cobb, said "Sure - it would be fun - better than this job" and nodded towards Mike Boyce and the rest of the Commissioners.

Mike Boyce, on the other hand, is solidly against the idea, indicating that those who are unhappy with Cobb County's way of doing things would find it extremely difficult to do it themselves without a great deal more money. He also indicated that the issues they are upset with the County over are already being addressed - upkeep of medians and grassy areas as well as increased police presence.

What Now?

It seems that the group behind the proposal has commissioned a report upon the proposal to be carried out by Georgia State University. Apparently the report claims a $3m surplus will exist on startup of the new city, see here https://www.eastcobbnews.com/b...

The full report is available here https://www.eastcobbnews.com/w...

More questions and answers here

https://www.cbs46.com/news/cou...

https://www.mdjonline.com/opin...

If you have more to add to this article please contact me and I will extend this article as we learn more.