Russ Madison

The city of Decatur, Ga., Revenue and Technology manager says the Braves moving from Atlanta to Cobb County could be a good thing for his city.

“Taken in combination with the renewal of Cobb’s SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) earlier this month, it seems like Cobb County’s reputation as a low-tax haven in metro-Atlanta may be fading somewhat—a phenomenon which, over time, could help Decatur and DeKalb’s attractiveness in the metro-area by comparison,” Russ Madison writes over on the Decatur Tax Blog.

I should take a moment to point out that, yes, the city of Decatur has a tax blog and it publishes some interesting information. (I’m a government policy nerd, so I concede my definition of interesting may vary from yours.)

Madison says taxes in Cobb County will go up to help build the new Braves’ stadium, including a 3- mill property tax increase for businesses in the Cumberland Community Improvement  District and a 3 percent car rental tax. Also, don’t forget those 15-tax exempt acres the Braves are getting.

This is one of the more concise, thoughtful breakdowns of the data that I’ve read. It’s well worth your time. To read the article, click here.