The City of Buford and the Buford City School District have issued a response to the school district line legislation citing negative consequences for both Hall County students and taxpayers.
This comes after Governor Brian Kemp signed House Bill 156 into law last week, which allows the boundaries of the Hall County School District to remain unchanged by the annexations undertaken by the City of Buford, unless expressly approved in a separate local act of the General Assembly or by intergovernmental agreement.
Representatives for the city said in a release that the legislation overlooked that all annexations into the City of Buford were initiated by the landowner and not undertaken by the city.
According to the release, the vast majority of the land annexed was raw, undeveloped and zoned Agriculture (AR-III) in Hall County. Representatives for the city said industrial and commercial land that was subsequently developed in Buford has allegedly yielded millions of dollars in ad valorem taxes to Hall County and sales tax dollars for both LOST and ESPLOST.
“In other words, but for these annexations and Buford’s infrastructure the tax digest would remain stagnant for these properties. These dollars and jobs benefit all Hall County residents. Single-family homeowners seek annexation so their children can attend the highly acclaimed Buford City School System,” Buford said in a release.
Buford said the reason landowners are seeking to annex not just into Buford but other Hall County municipalities is because it is of cheaper, more responsive and better services.
“Rather than embracing competition, Hall County has sought to make its citizens captive. Superintendent Schofield heralding of the law eliminates educational options for students and property rights of Hall County landowners while negatively impacting taxpayers,” Buford said.
