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Analysis shows Athens-Clarke County downtown yields outsized tax revenue while suburban infrastructure drives deficits
Summary
Urban3 analysis for Athens-Clarke County found a small downtown footprint generates a disproportionate share of property tax revenue while transportation infrastructure maintenance is the largest budget shortfall; consultant recommended focusing growth on denser, mixed-use development and infill.
Joe Munekozi, principal of Urban3, presented an economic ‘‘geo-accounting’’ analysis to Athens-Clarke County showing that a very small downtown footprint produces a disproportionate share of the county’s property-tax revenue while large, lower-density areas and transportation infrastructure create the largest fiscal shortfalls.
“We were hired by Athens-Clarke County to do an economic analysis of your community,” Munekozi said. He summarized the study’s core finding: downtown takes up about 0.2% of the county’s land but produces roughly 8% of property-tax revenue, a productivity ratio he described as about 1 to 39.
The analysis mapped land value per acre and compared building types. Munekozi reported downtown land averaged about $2,400,000 per acre in land value, while…
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