that school property tax money cannot be used to help fund the massive loop of transit, trails and parks around the city's core. "All big dreams have challenges, but it is not one we are not prepared to meet," Franklin said at a news conference Monday afternoon. The Georgia Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the city could not use school property taxes for the Beltline, a potentially major blow to the project. Beltline supporters expected to use about $850 million in future school property taxes on the Beltline during the next 25 years. The project is expected to cost about $2.8 billion to complete. The mayor called the ruling "unanticipated" and "unexpected," but she said city leaders were still optimistic about the project. Franklin said the city will adhere to the court's decision and look to local business leaders and state and federal officials for additional funding. City Council President Lisa Borders echoed the mayor's comments. "We will find a way to get across this hurdle," she said. The court's decision is a victory for Buckhead lawyer John Woodham, who in 2006 filed a lawsuit claiming the Beltline's funding mechanism was illegal. He argued that the state constitution explicitly forbade school taxes from being used for non-educational purposes. In an opinion released Monday morning, the court cited two earlier rulings, including a 1994 decision which held that DeKalb County school tax revenue couldn't be used to pay for a nearby road project. So, the court ruled, "it follows that school taxes cannot be used to fund the Beltline Plan which provides a benefit to all citizens, and which has little, if any, nexus to the actual operation of public schools in the city of Atlanta." Beltline officials Terri Montague and Valerie Wilson, who lead the project's administrative and fund raising arms, vowed that the project will continue despite the decision. "We are disappointed in this ruling, but we remain focused on the BeltLine vision," they wrote in an email sent Monday to residents serving on a Beltline advisory committee. "And we will continue working without interruption with our staffs and public and private partners toward its fulfillment using alternative funding sources —as we have for the last 16 months." The case could have far-reaching implications. Statewide, more than two dozen tax allocation districts, or TADs, similar to the Beltline's already are in place, including one that helped create Atlantic Station in Midtown. TADs work by taking future increases in property tax value and redirecting them to help pay for projects within the district. In the Beltine's case, the TAD-generated funds would have helped pay for everything from a transit line to workforce housing. Lawyers for the city have argued the Beltline funding mechanism is legal, citing a different part of the state constitution that allows for the creation of tax allocation districts like the one funding the Beltline. A Fulton County judge dismissed the case last February, but Woodham appealed to the state Supreme Court. The legal skirmish had already slowed the Beltline project. Woodham's actions blocked a $200 million bond sale that was to have taken place more than a year ago, making it difficult for officials to hire staff, secure right of way and obtain land for future parks. The legal limbo also hurt the private fund-raising side of the project, with some potential donors waiting for the Supreme Court's decision.

Read entire article at: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution