Consultant says Community Improvement Districts could fund Eagles Landing improvements; Jonesborough looks less ready

A consultant told the Henry County Board of Commissioners on June 3 that community improvement districts, or CIDs, could help pay for road, sidewalk and streetscape projects along Eagles Landing Parkway and Jonesborough Road if commercial property owners agree to self-impose assessments.

Malaika Rivers, a consultant who said she has worked on CIDs for about 30 years and helped prepare the study, told commissioners that CIDs “are very much about commercial districts and commercial centers, not residential areas.” She said the study limited the two subareas to commercial parcels and evaluated eligibility, likely revenues based on the 2024 tax digest, and stakeholder interest.

The presentation said the Eagles Landing subarea is about 1,100 acres (roughly 1.8 square miles) with roughly two‑thirds of parcels eligible for a CID; the Jonesborough subarea is about 867 acres (about 1.2 square miles) with roughly three‑quarters of the parcels eligible. The report mailed letters to about 332 commercial property owners in the two subareas and held about 10 meetings with roughly 25 stakeholders, Rivers said. Using the 2024 tax digest, the study estimated potential annual CID revenue if all eligible commercial parcels participated: Eagles Landing about $685,000 at a 3‑mill assessment and more than $1,000,000 at 5 mills; Jonesborough about $363,000 at 3 mills and $613,025 at 5 mills. The consultant cautioned that those figures assume full participation, which is unlikely at startup.

Rivers outlined typical CID uses allowed under Georgia law and local enabling legislation — roads and bridges, sidewalks and streetscapes, landscaping and public safety programs — and said CIDs usually act as seed money to leverage other funds. “That money is then used to leverage other sources of funds,” she said, estimating that CIDs on average leverage about $4 in outside funds for every $1 collected.

Commissioner Michael Price asked whether CID funds could be used for an exit ramp; Rivers replied that CID funds can be used for public‑right‑of‑way improvements such as roads and bridges but not to improve private property. Several commissioners and stakeholders noted Eagles Landing appeared to have stronger stakeholder interest and density and therefore greater near‑term opportunity; Rivers said it can take about four years from initial outreach to legal activation of a CID and recommended continuing education and phased outreach. She urged beginning with government‑led education and transitioning governance to property owners once they see the value.

The consultant recommended options including targeting one corridor first, broadening study boundaries to include a western parallel connector, analyzing whether projected growth would be primarily residential or commercial (multifamily residential is ineligible to participate), and evaluating Henry County’s tax competitiveness for developers. Rivers said the planning staff and her team have the full report and can help with next steps; planning staff agreed to distribute the presentation to commissioners.

The discussion concluded with no formal motion to form a CID; commissioners directed staff to continue outreach and said the county would not immediately pursue a formation campaign.