Along with deciding on a trio of council members and a new state representative, West Point residents will decide Tuesday whether to back the formation of a “tax allocoation district” in the city.

Officials say the measure, which is not an actual tax, could be a major tool in the city’s redevelopment.

“This referendum is a real crossroads for West Point,” said Barry Spofford, a developer who has been helping to educate City Council on the district and its benefits. “On one side the voters can vote ‘no’ to stay the course and hope things improve on their own. Or they can vote ‘yes’ to take control and drive the process for a better standard of living for all the citizens of West Point.”

Council voted in August to let voters decide on the district after receiving approval from the Georgia General Assembly. If the district isn’t approved by voters this time around, the city would have to wait an entire year – and get legislative approval again – to start the process over.

A tax allocation district sets aside a specific area in town, allowing bonds to be floated for infrastructure improvements and building projects. Taxes collected on the revitalized property pay off the bonds. Neither the city or residents are on the hook for the tax money. City leaders are looking at an area from Interstate 85 to the Chattahoochee River to be in the redevelopment district.

The district would not raise residents’ taxes and redevelopment projects wouldn’t bother homeowners who wish to be left alone, officials said. The city would collect new taxes from the new development once the bonds are paid off.

Without the district, Mayor Drew Ferguson IV said, developers would be attracted to land newly annexed into the city by the Kia Motors plant, but “the core of the city will continue falling into disrepair.”

Parts of the city have been redeveloped in recent years with projects by the Chattahoochee Fuller Center and Habitat for Humanity, but those non-profit groups are run primarily through volunteers and can’t have the impact of redevelopment funded through a tax allocation district, city leaders say.

Atlantic Station in Atlanta was financed by a tax allocation district project and cities with populations similar to West Point – such as Marietta, Acworth, Holly Springs and Woodstock, also have used the TAD to finance growth. Forty-eight of 50 states allow the creation of tax allocation districts; Georgia passed legislation allowing it in 1985.

City leaders admit that Kia – and the growth its expected to bring – make a tax allocation district even more enticing for developers.

“We need to take advantage of this rising tide,” Spofford recently told council. Ferguson said much future development in most cities – not just West Point – will be financed through public-private partnerships like the TAD creates.

Jennifer Shrader may be reached at jshrader@lagrangenews.com or at (706) 884-7311, Ext. 236.