Atlanta and Fulton County

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As Atlanta has grown, its relationship with Fulton County and DeKalb County, in which it lies, has become more complicated. A further complication is that Fulton County is geographically shaped like a dumbbell. It has one bulbous area to the north, another bulbous area to the southwest, and the "handle" area in the middle consisting of most of the City of Atlanta. A much smaller section of Atlanta extends east into DeKalb County. This odd shape of Fulton County dates back to the Great Depression, when as a financial expedient, the impoverished counties to the north and southwest were merged into Fulton County, which had more resources. Below are several plans for reconciliation.

Secession

One solution which has come up frequently during the 2000s is for north Fulton County to secede, again becoming Milton County. This time it would include Roswell, as well as its original county seat of Alpharetta, and the neighborhood incorporated as Mountain Park, and stretches of unincorporated land. Some proposals call for it to include Sandy Springs as well, though it has always been in Fulton County and not in Milton. One of those proposals is being studied by a commission set up by the Georgia General Assembly during its 2005 session.

Any change in Georgia's county borders requires the consent of any county whose territory is involved, and the state legislature. In addition, any attempt to divide Fulton would require a constitutional amendment to the Georgia state constitution, in order for more than 159 counties to exist, which is the present constitututional limit.

Municipalization

Since the 1970s, the longest-running battle has been allowing Sandy Springs to incorporate. With over 80,000 residents, it is already one of the largest cities in the state. It has not become a city however, due to the fact that it will take at least 20 million dollars away from the county every year, which will not be offset by the services the new city would take over. In 2005, the legislature finally allowed a referendum on the matter, and on June 21 Sandy Springs residents voted 94% in favor of incorporation. The new city will take over on the first day of 2006, though the county will continue to provide most services under contract through sometime in 2007. There was an additional complication that the State Legislature had to waive. By the Constitution, no new city or town may be created within 5 miles of another without the consent of the Legislature. Sandy Springs directly borders on Atlanta to the south and Roswell to the north.

Since 2004, municipalization of the entire county has also been considered, which would incorporate every area into one contiguous city. This would essentially eliminate the county's home rule powers (granted in the 1960s) to act as a municipality in unincorporated areas, and return it to being entirely a local extension of state government. At least one proposal would create several small cities, even where there are no longer towns to base them in (??).

If Milton county were to become an official county again, incorporating the relatively undeveloped northern and eastern corners of it would eliminate the need for much new government for a new county, though it would also create a need for two new city governments, possibly without a large enough tax base to support one or either of them. Incorporating the southwest of the county (formerly part of Campbell County) would be difficult, since there are only towns there, and not cities, and the unincorporated areas are quite large and not necessarily near any of them.

Other options

Other options which may be considered:

Under current Georgia law, the city of Atlanta could merge governments with Fulton County's, becoming a consolidated city-county. This could be complicated by the fact that part of Atlanta is in another county, and by the presence of other large cities in Fulton.
Consolidation could also occur by reducing Fulton County down to contain only Atlanta, or to Atlanta and its immediate neighbors, leaving no unincorporated areas. This would also put the Atlanta-in-DeKalb area into Fulton, and require two new counties in the north and southwest.
Atlanta could be made an one tier city and if possible, they may change the official city name to The Corporation of Fulton County (simply as City of Fulton County), taking it out of both Fulton and DeKalb Counties entirely. This would be difficult until more urban development can improve the city's tax base, and until the state begins to give significant support for the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority and the large Grady Hospital (which serve the entire metro area but are paid for almost entirely by the city and the counties of Fulton and DeKalb). Doing this would split Fulton County, requiring the remaining parts to become two more counties.
Extraterritorial jurisdiction could be allowed, though statutory restrictions on the distance this could extend from an existing city may make it difficult to reach the far corners of the unusually-shaped and very unevenly-populated county. ETJ could also become a problem if boundaries are not organized and agreed upon at the beginning, which could spark further confusion and political discord if it becomes a first-come, first-served situation. ETJ is also mainly a zoning function, and thus may not be a complete solution.
A different type of municipal or civil division could be created, such as a town or township. This could give independent local boards certain ETJ-like powers, but unlike a new city still allow for annexation by existing cities. This option could be politically complicated, as it would make a change which would likely have a statewide effect. The only neighboring state with townships is North Carolina, where they are considered county divisions.
With the approval of the legislature, the far ends of the county could join other counties with their consent. The north end could rejoin Forsyth County, bringing the heavy business tax base of Alpharetta into the heavily-residential and still largely rural exurban county. The largely-undeveloped southwest end could rejoin with Douglas County, as they were originally under Campbell County.

Some of those options (except the first two and last) would also require an amendment passed by two-thirds of both the state house and senate, and a statewide referendum. Most have not yet been widely discussed, though the idea of consolidation has recently been mentioned by at least one state legislator.

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