Audio clip
David Pennington
DALTON, Ga. — The city’s outspoken Mayor David Pennington said he does not think the Downtown Dalton Development Authority needs its own staff, and he reiterated that the tax it charges is a disincentive to new businesses.
“Do they need their own staff? No.... We’ve got enough daggum people,” Mr. Pennington said.
He pressed the DDDA board at its Wednesday meeting to dissolve the tax that funds its operations, saying the authority might benefit from an increased hotel tax. But board members voted 4-2 to keep the extra tax — for now.
Several board members said they can’t dissolve the tax without alternative funding in place.
“It’s just too early to make a decision,” said board member Ben Laughter. “We just don’t have enough information.”
As the mayor crusades against city taxes, the DDDA has come under increased scrutiny.
Rumors swirled after he was elected that the mayor planned to gut the authority. Mr. Pennington even attended the DDDA’s annual retreat last month, apologizing for any “tensions” he had created before railing against the DDDA tax.
But the tension was palpable at Wednesday’s board meeting. One longtime board member shook her head and mumbled under her breath, and board members and Mr. Pennington spoke over one another more than once.
“I’m ... trying to get this city in the realm of reason from a competitive standpoint with the taxes,” the mayor said.
Still, Kellie Smith said the extra millage rate doesn’t “offend” her as a small business owner, nor does it drain her pockets. The city should consider tax incentives for bigger downtown businesses on a “case-by-case basis,” she said.
Another business owner, Thomas Friedheim, said he’s conflicted about the downtown tax.
He believes that the city should offer tax incentives — rather than an added tax — to “help lure and woo” businesses downtown. Still, his business, Planet of the Grapes, received a low-interest loan for expansion with the DDDA’s assistance.
And, he said, “The Downtown Development Authority needs to be supported in some way.”
Unlike Mr. Pennington, Mr. Friedheim says downtown is coming alive. “There is so much potential,” he said. “I really think it’s time to get beyond this divisive debate, start finding common ground, and move forward.”
FAST FACT
The Downtown Dalton Development Authority adds an extra three mills to the tax bills of downtown district businesses, increasing their total property tax rate by 25.6 percent.
Source: Office of the Dalton city administrator
