Mableton council gives staff consensus to reestablish 6 Flags special services district; county collection status unclear

City of Mableton officials asked the council on May 12 whether to reestablish a Special Services District covering the Six Flags area, keep the current 3.5‑mill assessment and pursue collection options. Director Artie Jones and City Attorney Amelia Walker presented the proposal and sought council consensus rather than an immediate vote.

Jones told the council the district was originally created by Cobb County in 2016 and levied an ad valorem assessment of 3.5 mills on commercial properties. He said the county’s version of the district is set to “sunset” and that staff wants to reestablish the district under city authority to fund infrastructure, public safety, nuisance abatement and redevelopment projects within the defined district. “Do you guys wanna move forward with Special Services District? Second question is, do you want the boundaries to stay the same? And the third is…do you want us to move forward with doing what we need to do to be able to collect those taxes?” Jones asked the council.

Why it matters: Under the SSD model the tax proceeds must be spent inside the district; if the city does not reestablish it, those services would have to be funded from the general fund. The district is concentrated largely south of I‑20 and is taxed only on nonresidential parcels, Jones said.

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