October 25, 2003

To: Shirley Franklin, Mayor
CITY OF ATLANTA
55 Trinity Avenue, SW
Atlanta, Georgia 30335-0300

Dear Mayor Franklin:

I am in receipt of your recent letter requesting assistance in state and federal funding of your water and sewer project. Frankly, with our mutual efforts at building a working relationship, I was surprised to receive a letter asking for $500,000,000, a tax increase, and help lobbying congress for another $1 BILLION instead of a personal visit to my Capitol office across the street. I was also a little surprised to find my name and address on your web site without a phone call, but I will assume you are too busy with other matters and will respond via the same manner. Please know, however, that my door is open and I will return any phone call as quickly as possible. I will even come to your office, as I have in the past, if you would prefer.

You have continued to portray the court-ordered sewer repairs as a “mandate” and imply that, therefore, Georgia and US taxpayers should participate in the $3 BILLION repair costs. I could not disagree more strongly. I believe that the courts are simply requiring the City of Atlanta to meet federal law instead of ignoring it. If that is a “mandate” than our prisons are full of criminals fulfilling federal “mandates”. Atlanta ignored its responsibilities to prevent polluting the waters of this state and failed to maintain and improve its infrastructure.

I know that you inherited this problem. And, like you, Governor Perdue, Speaker Coleman, and I inherited a large state deficit brought on by a recession, out of control spending, and the lingering effects of corruption and political favoritism. Our solution has been to cut spending, improve efficiencies, reform the budget process, and root out the corruption. I urge you to do the same.

Other than a small tobacco tax increase aimed at reducing teen smoking, we have not resorted to calls for higher taxes and we will not seek any next year. Our taxpayers are paying more than their fair share. I will fight any effort to shift the costs of Atlanta’s sewer repairs onto the taxpayers of our state. And I will not participate in any effort to ask that America’s taxpayers share in your costs either.

In fact, the City of Atlanta’s non-compliance with environmental laws is affecting Georgia communities like LaGrange, Columbus and Bainbridge. Your downstream neighbors are paying the price for polluted rivers and lakes caused by Atlanta’s sewers. The City of Atlanta is already costing Georgia’s taxpayers plenty. I will not ask them for any more.

The State of Georgia has a program for low-cost loans to communities for water and sewer projects. If you are willing to discuss loans, instead of the half billion dollars in grants that you requested, I will be happy to set up a meeting for you with Paul Burks, the Executive Director of Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority (GEFA).

Finally, the legislature granted the City of Atlanta the ability to add another penny sales tax for this project subject to a referendum authorized by the Fulton County Commission. I urge you to work with them on this matter.

Atlanta is a valuable resource to our state. We want to be partners in any effort that benefits the City. Together, we are stronger. But we cannot shift the burdens of Atlanta’s past failures to Georgia’s taxpayers anymore than we can ask the City of Atlanta to help us deal with our deficit of $700,000,000.

Communication is the root of cooperation. I hope that we can talk more and write less in the future.

Yours for Georgia,

[Senator] Eric Johnson