Joe Minicosi, principal of Urban3, presented an economic model to Athens‑Clarke County showing that downtown, mixed‑use properties generate substantially more tax revenue per acre than low‑density, big‑box development.

The analysis compared parcel-level property- and sales‑tax productivity and mapped results in three dimensions. It identified 110 East Clayton Street as among the county’s highest‑productivity parcels and showed examples where compact, mixed‑use buildings produced far more tax revenue per acre than a Walmart that occupies many acres.

Minicosi said the comparison is driven by land‑use patterns: a rehabbed downtown building occupying about 0.2 acre generates comparable or greater revenue per acre than a Walmart that takes roughly 34 acres. “Apples to apples, if you want to know the taxes per acre, we’re producing about a 100 times more taxes per acre,” Minicosi said. He also told the county his downtown projects produced about double the sales tax of the Walmart example and “a lot more residential and a lot more jobs.”

The presentation showed Athens‑Clarke County has a substantial non‑taxable footprint tied to the University of Georgia and development authority lands. Minicosi said roughly 17% of county land value is non‑taxable, with the university accounting for about 6% of that non‑taxable value. He noted that counties with large state universities often show similar patterns, citing Eugene, Oregon, and Gainesville, Florida as comparators.

Urban3 also modeled revenue sources and service costs. At the county level Minicosi said “about 20% of your revenue comes from sales tax.” In a separate chart he showed that, for the parcels highlighted, roughly 72% of the illustrated revenue stack came from sales tax and 28% from property tax, a difference he presented as reflecting how certain parcels produce chiefly sales tax while others produce property tax. Minicosi used restaurant examples — Olive Garden and Slater’s — to show how sales‑tax generation can vary significantly by establishment type.

The model incorporated estimated infrastructure and service costs and presented a net position view. Minicosi said about 20% of Athens‑Clarke County’s real estate was net positive (revenues exceed modeled infrastructure/service costs) while about 80% was net negative under the model’s assumptions; he emphasized that low‑density or agricultural areas often consume fewer services and that a net‑negative classification does not imply a property is inherently “bad.”

Using proposed and in‑progress projects along Firefly Trail and other mixed‑use developments placed into the model, Urban3 estimated those projects would add about $3 million in net positive fiscal impact. Minicosi compared that to a current modeled deficit of $12 million, saying the projects would narrow the modeled shortfall to about $9 million.

Minicosi also emphasized infrastructure replacement needs — for example, presenting pipe and road lengths as a way to visualize long‑term capital obligations — and argued that transparency about where revenue is generated and where costs fall helps communities evaluate land‑use choices. He quoted Jack Stack: “A business should be run like an aquarium where everybody can see what’s going on,” attributing the line to Stack through his presentation.

The presentation concluded with an offer to share a longer, 45‑minute version of the analysis and accompanying maps and data. The remarks were delivered as a standalone consultant presentation; the transcript does not record any subsequent formal action, motion, or vote by the county commission in response to the presentation.