Politics & Government

DeKalb CEO, Decatur Mayor Talk Transportation Tax

Town Hall at Emory spurs discussion about proposed light rail projects

DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis and Decatur Mayor Bill Floyd were among the participants in a town hall meeting Wednesday night at to discuss the penny sales tax up for vote this summer.

Voters in 10 Georgia counties including Fulton and Dekalb will decide in July whether to support regional transportation tax that would help pay for transportation projects around the metro area.

Most of the projects would alleviate terrible traffic issues city-wide and bring more transportation options to areas that are lacking useful public transit.

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"We have the opportunity to do something about it," Ellis said about traffic in metro Atlanta. "It impacts us in so many ways."

— a 10-stop light rail line that would connect Buckhead to Decatur with stops at the Emory campus, the Centers for Disease Control and DeKalb Medical Center — would receive more than $700 million from the transportation tax.

Find out what's happening in Virginia Highland-Druid Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"I'm convinced that we will not get this opportunity again," Floyd said about the regional tax. "It's our chance to make our statement for the future."

Scroll through the videos above to hear from Ellis and Floyd, then let us know what you think of the transportation tax in the comments section below.


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