Houston County Commission approves tax district for Warner Robins

The Houston County Commission voted Tuesday to approve a special tax district in Warner Robins about three years after first rejecting it.

A tax allocation district, commonly called a TAD, was first proposed in 2012 in hopes it could be used as a tool to attract development to the area of Warner Robins around City Hall. However, the commission turned it down at the time, in large part because of short notice.

In September, the Warner Robins Redevelopment Agency revived efforts to create the district, which would allow the property values of 355 parcels to increase incrementally over 30 years. Taxes collected above the original property value, which is $55.5 million in the proposed 170-acre district, would go into a special fund for infrastructure improvements in the area.

The proposed district beside Ga. 247 spans from Duke Avenue to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and stretches east between Young Avenue and Robins Drive with borders near Davis Drive and Commercial Circle.

With resolutions of approval passed by the redevelopment agency, Warner Robins City Council and the Houston County Commission, the next step will be approval from the Houston County Board of Education.

Then, the city of Warner Robins will apply to the Georgia Department of Revenue, which will determine the incremental tax increases. A developers conference is expected to follow, according to a draft implementation time line from the redevelopment agency.

Once the TAD is established, the city, county and school system will each choose two people who will serve on a committee that will oversee the expenditure of funds collected from the district.

To contact writer Laura Corley, call 744-4334 or follow her on Twitter @Lauraecor.

This story was originally published December 1, 2015 at 2:46 PM with the headline "Houston County Commission approves tax district for Warner Robins ."