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What impact could voting 'yes' on the four proposed cities in Cobb County have on residents there?

Cobb County Government held another Town Hall Tuesday night to address questions. Here we break down what it could mean for public safety, schooling and taxes.

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — There could soon be four new cities in Cobb County. Residents will vote next month on whether or not to create East Cobb, Lost Mountain, Vinings and Mableton.

If all four become cities, the county could experience a $41.4 million reduction in revenue. Most of the reduction coming from East Cobb, projected at more than $23 million.

Georgia State Political Science Professor Henry (Chip) Carey explained what this could mean for the pockets of residents in the area.

"On average taxes would go up for most situations, because you're getting the much broader array of services from the county that has what economists call economies of scale--much smaller geographic area is going to have a lot of infrastructure costs that can be spread out over a much larger graphical area for a county than a city," he said. "In general, scholars of these types of movements find that taxes go way, way up."

Cobb County government explains they would still have to pay county taxes for services like the Sheriff's Office, the Adult Detention Center, the court system, Medical Examiner, Tax Assessor, Tax Commissioner and more. 

"Assuming the county continues to provide those services, generally speaking, that means that they will be getting the services they get now, and that big, large chunk of county taxes would continue to be remained the same for the residents," Carey explained.

Of all proposed cities, East Cobb would be the only one adding its own police, fire and 911 system.

The red portions of this map show areas in the proposed city expected to have a longer response time. That could mean up to ten additional minutes compared to what residents wait now, according to Cobb County Fire and Emergency Services.

"The proposed city limits is 13% larger as far as response territory than what we currently have for stations 15 and 21," said Cobb County Fire Chief Bill Johnson.

As for the possible police department, a lot of details have not yet been released. 

Carey explains that for schools, nothing should change.

"None of these four cities have opted to create their own education department like the city of Decatur has. So it's no change," he said.

Cobb County Government held another Town Hall concerning the cityhood movement Tuesday night. It reiterated that it is not involved in the effort to form new cities but commissioners and staff continue to get questions on the topic.

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