Whitfield County commissioners approve Varnell tax agreement in split vote

Aug. 16—After more than an hour of sometimes contentious public comment and another half-hour of discussion among members of the Whitfield County Board of Commissioners, the commissioners voted 3-2 Monday to approve a 10-year intergovernmental agreement with Whitfield County Schools and the city of Varnell that will allow a tax allocation district (TAD) to help fund high-end commercial development at Patterson Farms.

The school board and the Varnell City Council had already approved the agreement.

Commissioners Barry Robbins and Robby Staten voted for the agreement. Commissioners Greg Jones and John Thomas voted against it, and Chairman Jevin Jensen broke the tie by voting to approve the agreement.

The agreement will provide up to $2.5 million in county tax dollars to the project.

Robbins made the motion for the agreement, noting the county already participates in multiple TADs in the city of Dalton.

"The project creates the type of neighborhood not currently available in Whitfield County and offers different housing types at various price points," Robbins said.

He said the retail part of the project will "produce new sales taxes not currently being captured" and that in the long run the project will increase the county's tax digest. He said an increase in the tax digest could make it possible for the county to cut the property tax rate.

Thomas said he philosophically has concerns about providing tax dollars to a private developer and worries about the short-term impact of the deal on county and school system revenues.

"The biggest concern for me is the people right now, not (in) 20, 30, 40 years," Thomas said.

The agreement states:

—The county portion of funding is to be utilized for only new recreational facilities that are generally accessible to the public, including access for any Whitfield County resident.

—Recreational facilities are defined as items such as walking trails, gardens, fountains and performing arts areas such as music amphitheaters.

—The county engineer has the right to review the designs and bids for recreational facilities.

—The agreement sets a $2.5 million cap for recreation improvements to be paid over 10 years, but it could be less.

The residential portion of Patterson Farms, a development on Cleveland Highway in the south end of Varnell, had a grand opening last year, but developers have said funding from a TAD is necessary to create the high-end commercial part of the project. The site of Patterson Farms was a former horse ranch and was mostly an empty field before development started.

TADs freeze the value at which a property can be taxed for general revenue. Taxes collected on additional value created by improvements to the property are dedicated to pay for infrastructure, public artwork or other amenities to attract a developer or developers to that area.

Jensen noted that all revenue from this agreement must be collected from properties within Varnell's TAD area.

"Using any taxpayer money from the unincorporated county for any TAD project is illegal," he said. "TAD accounts are subject to independent audits. Even during the TAD 10-year period, the county expects to receive millions in new revenue from the TAD area to the general fund that can be spent on roads and any other county-wide improvements."

In 2014, Varnell voters gave the City Council there the power to create TADs, and the council designated the site of Patterson Farms a TAD two years ago. Under Georgia law, the county government and local school systems can sign on to agreements in city TADs if they believe it is in the public interest.

Voters in 2014 gave the Dalton City Council the authority to create TADs. The City Council has created four: the downtown business district, the Hammond Creek area around the north bypass and Pleasant Grove Drive, the area around Dalton Mall and the West Walnut Avenue/Market Street area. The county participates in Dalton's TADs around the Dalton Mall and the downtown business district, which were created in 2018, and Hammond Creek, which was created in 2020.

County residents have twice voted against giving the county commissioners the power to create TADs in unincorporated parts of the county, a fact cited by Jones when voting against the agreement.

Staten noted that voters in Varnell have approved TADs. He also noted that the county participates in TADs with Dalton. He said he believes it would be unfair to the people of Varnell not to take part in that TAD.

Jensen agreed that the county should respect the wishes of the voters of Varnell. He also noted that general county tax dollars will not go to the development, only tax revenue generated within the Varnell TAD.

During public discussion, Matt Coker said development at Patterson Farms will increase the value of surrounding properties.

"This is beneficial only if property owners are interested in selling their properties for profit and moving," he said. "Many residents have been here for generations. Many residents prefer lower taxes, not relentless growth."

Coker questioned whether Robbins has a conflict of interest since he works for Builtwell Bank, which has done business with the developers behind the Patterson Farms project.

Robbins said he had no financial interest in Patterson Farms and consulted with County Attorney Robert Smalley and had no need to recuse himself from voting on the agreement.

"I get no compensation from (Patterson Farms) under any circumstances," he said.

Lauren Phillips said she is not opposed to TADs in principle but is opposed to the Varnell TAD.

"Most of our friends live in this county because it is a small-town county," she said. "We love that rural feel. That's why we didn't move to (Fort Oglethorpe) or Rossville or something. We wanted to live out here where it's quiet and where there's peace."

Former Varnell mayor Dan Peeples noted that when his father built his funeral homes in the north end of the county he received no government assistance. Peeples said he was generally opposed to governmental incentives for private business until he took part in the Leadership Georgia program, which seeks to educate business leaders from around the state on state issues, and saw some of the projects that have been developed with the help of governmental incentives.

"A lot of that was done with TADs," he said. "The (local governments) did this, took a (revenue) reduction, but it has paid back tenfold, maybe even 100-fold."

Carter Hayes moved back to the area from Tennessee recently and lives in Patterson Farms. He said if commissioners approved the TAD and allowed the developers to move forward it could help attract more young professionals to the county.