Your Guy for That Monday, November 19th, 2012 No Comments
May this Thanksgiving bring, joy, peace, gratitude, and happiness to you and yours! The Your Guy for That team wishes you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving!
Your Guy for That, Dustin Drabot
And the Your Guy for That Team… Continue Reading To all of our Readers,
Your Guy for That Friday, November 16th, 2012 No Comments
Reggie Taylor is scheduled to start as East Point new City Manager the Monday following Thanksgiving.
Reggie Taylor joined the Marietta Redevelopment Corporation in 2008. As executive director, he is responsible for the management and operations of the corporation as well as administration of the city of Marietta’s tax allocation districts, the Marietta fund for neighborhood and community revitalization and the quasi-organizational Marietta-Cobb New Markets Fund, Inc.
Taylor is the main point of contact for developers seeking assistance in pursuing projects within designated redevelopment areas. Through utilization of TADs, the Fund and New Market tax credits, he seeks to secure new investments in distressed and underutilized areas of the city.
He earned a Master of Science in… Continue Reading East Point City Manager
Your Guy for That Monday, November 12th, 2012 No Comments
Petition by Jenny Stone, East Point, GeorgiaPetitioning President, Fulton County School Board Friends,
Many of you have been instrumental in communicating to the Fulton County School Board your thoughts on the proposal being made to include our home, and several others, in a land acquisition in order to rebuild an elementary school in East Point. At this juncture, we cannot block the Fulton County land acquisition group from making their proposal. But, we can make strides to encourage the School Board to reject options that would include private land acquisition. We do not have a firm date on when the proposal will be made to the Board. But, we believe it to be in the new year. As such, we need your help again to ensure that the Board has heard from people that are in objection to ho… Continue Reading Fulton County School Board: Reject the proposal to acquire homes for East Point School!
Your Guy for That Tuesday, May 1st, 2012 1 Comment
The East Point City charter limits the City from charging residents a property tax rate more than 15 mils. Since this was a charter item I, and perhaps you, believed that this change could only be made by 1) approval of the State Legislation or 2) voter approval. It turns out, I was mistaken, Mayor Pittman is working to remove the limit on property taxes utilizing the “Home Rule”. If successful, Mayor Pittman will set up our City Charter to allow for a PROPERTY TAX WITHOUT LIMIT. If successful, each year City Council could come up with some reason to need money and therefore raise property taxes higher, and higher and higher.
In order for Home Rule to be exercised there is a very specific list of requirements that must be met. All that has to be done is an advertisement in the paper, plac… Continue Reading East Point Plans to use “Home Rule” to Force Through Tax Increases Without Legislative or Voter Approval
Your Guy for That Monday, April 30th, 2012 2 Comments
Reports have just resurfaced that Mayor Pittman has requested the City’s Tax Department to submit the financial information to move forward with her recommendation to remove the property tax limit from the City Charter. This is something that first came up at the now infamous Town Hall meeting in which the Mayor created a hostile environment by speaking down to citizens and not producing documentation to back her argument.
Sign the Petition and SAY NO TO PROPERTY TAX INCREASE
Your Guy for That, Dustin Drabot will stay up to date on these new developments to raise property tax rates in East Point. If you are not familiar with how the Mayor has been threatening to raise property taxes since the new council took office in January please review some of these earlier posts:
Feb 17th… Continue Reading East Point Mayor Takes Action to Increase Property Tax Rates
Your Guy for That Tuesday, March 20th, 2012 No Comments
Last night the East Point City Council voted to keep the current utility rate in place indefinitely. The utility base rate is currently $47.80 and until last night was scheduled to increase to $66.85 on July 1, 2012. The City has been using a subsidy to keep the rate down to $47.80 since the middle of last year. This subsidy was intended to help ease the needed rate of $66.85 through a 2-year phased increase. The subsidy will expire on July 1, 2012 in which the utility will need to make up $2M.
This vote goes against the recommendations from the Staff in the Utility Department, the Interim City Manager and countless outside recommendations. Council voted to stop the planned increase without the endorsement of any industry professional. According to current proposals, removing the planned … Continue Reading Utility Rate Remains the Same…. Win or Lose?
Your Guy for That Friday, March 2nd, 2012 No Comments
Residents gathered at the Jefferson Park Recreation Center Thursday evening to hear details about Mayor Pittman’s proposed tax rate hike. As residents arrived to the meeting they were greeted by Pittman’s opponents handing out literature in the parking lots. Upon entering the gymnasium they were provided a three page handout prepared by Mayor Pittman.
The handout included pages 1 & 2 from what’s listed as the “City of East Point General Fund Revenue Historical Data 2006-2011″ The presentation started and for the first 15 minutes Mayor Pittman discussed information from the first 2 pages. From there, she then began speaking of numbers that were not in the handout. When pressed about the issue one audience member was forcibly removed, then arrested. From that moment on, the audience wa… Continue Reading Town Hall Meeting Answers No Questions
Your Guy for That Wednesday, February 29th, 2012 No Comments
East Point Mayor Pittman is holding a “Town Hall Meeting on Balancing the General Fund” at 7:00PM on Thursday, March 1, 2012 at the Jefferson Park Recreation Center, 1431 Norman Berry Drive, East Point, GA. All East Point residents are invited to attend and participate in the discussion on:
Utility rate increases or Property tax code reform
Recommended property tax code reform
Contracting services
The effect of uncapping the millage rate
The effect on the General Fund
The Mayor encourages East Point residents to come and participate in the discussion. “IT IS YOUR MONEY and YOUR CITY”
This is YOUR OPPORTUNITY to speak directly to Mayor Pittman about her plan to remove the ceiling on property taxes and initially double YOUR city property tax. It’s also your opportunity to… Continue Reading Have Your Voice Heard at the East Point Town Hall Meeting
Your Guy for That Sunday, February 26th, 2012 1 Comment
Your Guy for That, Dustin Drabot is your source for info on up-to-date news and updates about East Point Mayor Pittman’s proposal to raise property taxes, remove the senior’s property tax exemption, and illegally attempt to tax churches. To keep you up to date I have created a tab on the home page of YourGuyForThat.com specifically dedicated to the Tax Controversy. Plus, every time you see the “Say No to Property Tax Increase” logo you’ll know it’s a vital piece of the story.
Key Tax Rate Hike Information
East Point Tax Increase – Cost Breakdown… $40+, $60+, $80+ PER MONTH
VIDEO – Highlights from February 25th Rally in East Point
SIGN THE PETITION NOW
… Continue Reading Keep Up to Date on Tax Controversy
Your Guy for That Sunday, February 26th, 2012 No Comments
Rally Kit
Help spread the word about the Mayor’s proposed tax increase. Here is one of the signs for yesterday’s protest. Print it out in color and place it in a front window to show your opposition to the proposed property tax increase.
Then get out and share the word with your neighbors. So many people have come up and thanked me for the breakdown of what the tax increase would mean to them. One resident admitted he didn’t even know what a Mil was and how it impacted him.
So, print out the flyer from yesterday’s rally and share it with your neighbors. You can either print it single sided and hand out as an 8.5×11, or you can print the same thing on each side then cut in half to get twice the flyers for the same amount of paper and ink. Either way you do it, just get the … Continue Reading Help Get the Word Out