​In the last 2-week period (Dec 2 - Dec 15), 46 incidents were reported in Beat 204.  Of those, only one occurred in the area we patrol.  On December 5th, a resident on Defoor Avenue reported a lost wallet.  She did not know where she was when she lost it.

A summary of other activity reported in the surrounding area:

Thank you to all that contacted the Fulton County Board of Assessors regarding the tax abatement issue, including those that signed the petition and the 45 community leaders that put their name to a letter.
This update comes from Julian Bene—a retired management consultant that served on the board of Invest Atlanta, who attended the meeting. -

​​BOA  had a knock-down drag out fight on the ramp up MOAs today. DAFC (Development Authority of Fulton County) & bond lawyers Ichter, Selby (Tilford), S-E Langford and the P9 attorney were at the meeting or on Zoom all cajoling BOA to do their bidding and pass it now, now, now. Never before has BOA dared to question and these folks can't believe it.

Board members Lee Morris and Mindy Kaplan were fantastic. (If you know them, thank them.) They made the case that our attorney John Woodham's points seemed valid and that the market evidence was hard to argue with. How can we sign off on a formula that does not reflect what's paid when these things sell? That really is the only question here.

So when the DAFC crowd had all had their say, Lee says we've heard from one side, what about the other? "Oh no," says the Board secretary, "you have to have filled out a comment card and only Mr. Bene has done so." (John had told me to submit my Ichter rebuttal as an attachment to the comment card, thank goodness. )
Some of Y'all need to do that next time to make sure the board has to listen to the public.

So, unshaven as I was on Zoom, not anticipating there would be any discussion of this at BOA today, let alone a chance to speak, I upped and harangued them along the lines of the 19 sales data points that I'd compiled and that Ichter's letter was full of crap. The Chairman shut me up after several minutes based on the 2-minute rule but I got the main points over. Ichter asks to speak since I'd mentioned him. Gets told No. 

The MOAs tied 2-2, 1 absent, so again did not pass!  The look on Ichter's face as he's told they've heard enough from him and as these MOAs get shot down was worth the price of admission.  These boys (and girls) see their gravy train in jeopardy and boy are they pissed. They're likely not getting paid for the Tilford deal without the MOA and December is shot. Allow me some schadenfreude.

The board is now planning a work session, date tbd, where the appraisers will be expected to have done the work to look at the market evidence and verify it and to look at the lease terms and recommend how the interests should be valued.  Lee Morris again tells the Chief Appraiser his staff have to review the 19 sales prices and confirm or refute my analysis and review Woodham's points and explain how the ramp up is or is not consistent with the facts. Appraiser says yes they will - but sounds pretty non-committal.

Thank you to all our neighbors that contributed to the Santa Wish List Station 23 Fundraiser!
$1025 was raised, of which $468.21 purchased a 10 in 1 Pro Air Fryer/Counter top Stove and an 11-Piece stainless steel Cookware Set. The remained goes towards 30 yards of Astro-turf for training. (Ironically we found a great source for the turf, but lacked the equipment to unload! Anyone got a spare forklift?...)
Special thanks to UHNA Firestation and UHERO maven Cynthia Williams for organizing.

This information comes courtesy of Julian Bene  who has been actively reporting on the issue for years;

​As those of you following the issue know, The Development Authority of Fulton County (DAFC) has been giving away millions of dollars of taxpayer money to wealthy developers.
We have one final chance to stop this latest tax abatement deal (and perhaps others like it) at the Board of Assessors this week! 
The Fulton County Board of Assessors is under huge pressure week to stay with the bad old way, pretending that fake leases are real, that development authorities own the properties that in reality belong to developers and investors, so they are not taxed properly. They need to hear from as many Fulton (and Atlanta, and DeKalb) residents as possible that we are watching. 

Please sign this petition asking the Board of Assessors to stand firm.
It will take less than a minute and could be worth $500M a year to Atlanta.

If you need to top up your indignation about tax inequity between big commercial and the rest of us, take a look at the article below about the Microsoft building in Atlantic Station. It pays $1.5M a year when it should be paying $6M. All too typical in the trophy segment. Doesn't have to be this way if Assessors hold firm.
https://atlantaciviccircle.org/2023/12/13/what-microsofts-midtown-atlanta-campus-can-teach-us-about-corporate-tax-avoidance/

As in most winters, Coyotes have recently been sighted in Underwood Hills.
What should one do?
Don't Panic.
report sightings;
​www.atlantacoyoteproject.org/


Keep small pets inside.
Keep food indoors.
​Seal trash containers.
​Coyotes generally pose little threat to humans, but they are wild animals and should be treated with caution. 

There were no significant incidents to report.  As requested, we increased patrol hours in the days around Thanksgiving.  

Det. Randall "Brock" McClure helped out with the additional shifts.  I hope to have him fill in the future as well.  As requested, we will ensure that some day shifts are rolling the last week of December and first week of January for extra visibility.

I hope you all have a great week.

Best,

Det. Kevin Leonpacher
Atlanta PD / Underwood Hills Patrol