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City audit finds BeltLine Special Service District collections ahead of projections; recommends more SSD‑specific reporting
Summary
A city auditor review found SSD tax receipts exceeded consultant projections and that Atlanta BeltLine Inc. has spent the bulk of bond proceeds on three trail segments; auditors recommended more SSD‑specific reporting to City Council and the committee accepted and filed the report.
A financial review of the BeltLine Special Service District found tax collections ahead of the original projection schedule and that Atlanta BeltLine Incorporated has spent the majority of SSD bond proceeds on three trail projects, auditors told the Community Development Human Services Committee.
Zoe Geiger, a performance auditor presenting the review prepared under the city auditor’s office, told the committee the SSD collected about $3.2 million in fiscal 2022, $6.6 million in fiscal 2023 and $7.6 million in fiscal 2024 — roughly $17.5 million in total through June 2024 — putting collections roughly five years ahead of the consultant’s 4.5% appreciation projection.
Geiger said Aura (the Atlanta Urban Redevelopment Agency) issued a $95 million bond secured by the SSD levy; as of February 28, 2025, Atlanta BeltLine Inc. had spent about $67.1 million of bond proceeds on the Southside, Northwest and Westside trail segments, leaving roughly $20 million of the $88.1 million bond balance. Auditors noted bond‑proceeds spending is geographically limited to areas where the SSD and the Aura urban‑redevelopment area overlap and that allowable uses are restricted to engineering, utility relocation, construction, ADA accessibility and safety features.
The audit team tested a sample of ABI vendor invoices and found invoicing and requisition controls consistent with program guidelines. Auditors also report that three of four prior audit recommendations were implemented; the remaining recommendation — to include a comprehensive SSD reporting framework in the memorandum of understanding among ABI, Aura and Invest Atlanta — was only partially implemented. The auditors urged the chief operating officer, Invest Atlanta and ABI to include SSD‑specific metrics in council presentations, including collections vs. projections over the bond life, funds spent to date, percentage completion for SSD‑funded projects and details of any discretionary funds.
Councilmember D. Dozier asked whether excess collections would revert to taxpayers if the SSD were sunseted; auditors replied that excess revenue can be used either for project costs or to prepay bond debt, consistent with the bond documents.
The committee voted to accept and file the audit report; the committee vote was recorded as 6 yays, 0 nays.
Ending: Auditors said ABI had begun work to include more SSD data in future presentations and committee members asked for regular SSD reporting to support council oversight and decisions about discretionary funds and possible prepayment.
