City of Atlanta Pension Reform
The ACP contributed $2 million to help create a Blue Ribbon Pension Review Panel and fund expert analysis for the development of pension reform options. The panel members served as key advisors to the Mayor and his administration in their efforts to develop the legislation, garner support for pension reform and plan for implementation.
Following the end of the Great Recession, ACP members became increasingly concerned about the city of Atlanta’s unfunded pension liability. In 2010, the city faced a $1.5 billion unfunded pension liability and spent more than $100 million – nearly 20 percent of its general fund budget – on pension costs, up from $36 million only eight years earlier. By another measure, Atlanta’s unfunded pension obligations grew to $1.5 billion from $321 million from 2001 to 2009.
Calling the situation untenable, Mayor Reed pledged during his campaign to reform the city’s pension system, promising taxpayers the city would be fiscally responsible and vowing to retirees the city would make good on its promise to them. As Mayor-elect, he worked with the ACP to convene a Blue Ribbon Pension Review Panel, led by former Atlanta Journal-Constitution Publisher John C. Mellott, to study the city’s pension liability and provide recommendations for moving forward.
The final ordinance was supported by all city unions and unanimously approved by the Atlanta City Council in June 2011. The law allowed existing employees to remain in a defined benefit plan with a 5 percent contribution increase and, for new employees, created a hybrid defined benefit/defined contribution plan. The legislation also extended the retirement age for new employees, created a minimum retirement age and capped the city's annual contribution to the pension funds.
The comprehensive pension reform plan led to $22 million in savings the first year. It is projected to save the city more than $270 million over the next 10 years and more than $500 million over 30 years. It also freed up funds to allow Mayor Reed to open Centers for Hope for the city’s children and hire hundreds of police officers.
Commission on Waste and Efficiency and Renew Atlanta (2014 – 2015)
The ACP supported the creation of the Commission on Waste and Efficiency to help reduce government inefficiency and accurately forecast the funds needed for major infrastructure improvements in the city. The commission led to a $250 million public infrastructure bond referendum that was ultimately approved by voters for city improvements called ‘Renew Atlanta.’
Recognizing the need for strong city infrastructure for business developments, ACP members supported Mayor Reed in his efforts to pursue a public infrastructure bond. By 2010, city officials estimated the Atlanta’s infrastructure backlog had reached a staggering level of about $900 million. Working with the ACP, Mayor Reed sought to build public support for an infrastructure bond initiative and began the process by appointing a 16-member Commission on Waste and Efficiency to identify potential cost savings through the elimination of government inefficiency.
Former ACP Chairperson and Delta Air Lines Chief Executive Officer Richard Anderson co-chaired the commission, whose work led to the city saving $22 million in FY16 and $25 million in FY17. The savings also helped the city achieve an AA+ credit rating and freed up capital to support issuance of a $250 million infrastructure bond without raising taxes.
After more than 100 public meetings, Atlanta residents in March 2015 overwhelmingly voted for the “Renew Atlanta” bond to authorize repairs, improvements and upgrades to transportation and municipal facilities projects citywide. Because of its strong credit rating, the city could fund the bonds at historically low interest rates.
Going forward, the Renew Atlanta program will fix roads and bridges, build more than 30 miles of complete streets projects and bicycle lanes, and synchronize Atlanta’s traffic signals for the first time. The substantial new investment in bicycle lanes will enhance safety, broaden transportation options for our citizens and reduce automotive congestion.
Westside Future Fund
In partnership with Mayor Reed, the ACP established the Westside Future Fund in December 2014 to lead the revitalization of the historic neighborhoods in this important Atlanta community. The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation and the Chick-fil-A Foundation helped establish the fund with significant support.
Atlanta’s Westside – which includes English Avenue and Vine City – are among the poorest in the region and suffer from high unemployment and crime rates. The neighborhoods have lost half their population or more since their peak in the late 1950s and 1960s and many homes are abandoned, leading to blight.
The Westside Future Fund is focused on improving outcomes in four key areas: developing quality mixed-use housing and opportunities for income; improving safety and security; providing cradle-to-career education for residents; and delivering access to community-based health care and wellness.
In keeping with their commitment to mixed-income families in the community, Mayor Reed and the Westside Future Fund announced an Anti-Displacement Tax Fund in April 2017 that will raise as much as $5 million in private dollars to help residents pay for expected tax increases as the area becomes more attractive to developers.
Atlanta BeltLine
The ACP has been a large supporter of the Atlanta BeltLine, raising more than $10 million in start-up philanthropy for the 22-mile corridor.
The ACP has long supported the development of the Atlanta BeltLine, the most comprehensive transportation and economic development effort ever undertaken in the city of Atlanta, and one of the largest, most wide-ranging urban redevelopment programs currently underway in the nation.
At its core, the Atlanta BeltLine is a network of public parks, multi-use trails and eventually transit along a historic 22-mile railroad corridor connecting 45 in-town Atlanta neighborhoods to each other. Since the opening of the first section of the Atlanta BeltLine --- the Eastside Trail in October 2012 --- it has grown exponentially in use and popularity. Already, the Atlanta BeltLine has become a living, breathing part of the city; not simply a means of getting somewhere, but a destination unto itself.
In 2014, the ACP raised $10 million in start-up philanthropy to help complete the Westside Trail, a three-mile stretch on the Atlanta BeltLine’s southwest side that will connect Washington Park in the north to Adair Park in the south, with connectivity to multiple neighborhoods in between. This historic investment in southwest Atlanta will create a bicycle- and pedestrian-safe corridor with connections to four schools, four parks and a future urban farm. The project is a major and must-needed economic catalyst for Atlanta’s Westside, providing crucial support to businesses and encouraging start-ups and new jobs.
Engage
ACP provides support to the Engage accelerator program and venture fund launched in 2017 through the support of 10 ACP-member corporations, which committed $15 million to the fund and will actively support the accelerator through mentoring, education and collaboration.
To support start-up entrepreneurs and generate additional high-tech jobs, ACP member companies partnered with Georgia Tech and Mayor Reed to launch the Engage accelerator program in early 2017.
This mentorship-driven accelerator and venture fund invests $75,000 for 6 percent of the start-ups that participate in the program. It also co-invests in later financing rounds in portfolio companies. Engage then connects entrepreneurs with advisors, potential board members and other mentors, and facilitates a session where they can pitch their companies to investors, Fortune 500 CEOs and executives from around the country. Its goal is ultimately to drive technology development to Atlanta to provide opportunities for the city’s science, tech, engineering and math (STEM) students.
2016 Infrastructure Tax Referenda
In 2016, ACP members contributed $1.3 million in support of ballot efforts to pass the T-SPLOST and additional funding for MARTA.
ACP members believe that strong infrastructure, particularly transportation improvements, powers a city and its people. It enables trade, grows business opportunities, allows mobility to jobs and helps uplift struggling communities.
However, Atlanta residents and visitors bear the burdensome impact of long commutes and traffic congestion. Investment in public transportation had been lacking for decades. In addition, transforming Atlanta’s public transportation, renewing roads and infrastructure and encouraging urban densification will unlock opportunities for low-income communities.
In 2016, ACP members contributed $1.3 million in support of ballot efforts to pass a local option sales tax for transportation (T-SPLOST) and a sales tax increase for MARTA, the city’s rapid transit system. Atlanta voters overwhelmingly supported the referenda, in stark contrast to a failed effort in 2012 to pass the transportation tax. MARTA now will embark on a $2.6 billion expansion, its largest in decades.
Renew Atlanta
The ACP supported an initiative to identify and reduce government inefficiencies to build support for a public infrastructure bond initiative. In 2015, the city’s residents overwhelmingly voted for a $250 million bond that, combined with other funds, will reduce by half the city’s nearly $1 billion infrastructure backlog.
In 2010, city officials estimated Atlanta’s infrastructure backlog at about $900 million. Mayor Reed sought to build public support for an infrastructure bond initiative and began the process by appointing a 16-member Commission on Waste and Efficiency to identify potential cost savings through the elimination of government inefficiency.
Former ACP Chairperson and Delta Air Lines Chief Executive Officer Richard Anderson co-chaired the commission, whose work led to the city saving $22 million in FY16 and $25 million in FY17. The savings also helped the city achieve an AA+ credit rating and freed up capital to support issuance of a $250 million infrastructure bond without raising taxes.
After more than 100 public meetings, Atlanta residents in March 2015 overwhelmingly voted for a $250 million infrastructure bond to authorize repairs, improvements and upgrades to transportation and municipal facilities projects citywide. Because of its strong credit rating, the city could fund the infrastructure bonds at historically low interest rates. Going forward, the Renew Atlanta program will fix roads and bridges, build more than 30 miles of complete streets projects and bicycle lanes, and synchronize Atlanta’s traffic signals for the first time.
City of Atlanta Water and Sewer Project
ACP members contributed $250,000 to build public support for a water and sewer municipal option tax, which will generate $700 million in revenue to fund infrastructure improvements.
In line with its focus on building a city with solid infrastructure, ACP members worked with Mayor Reed to build support for investing in improvements in the city’s water and sewers and contributed $250,000 to support the cause. If the vote had failed, water rates could have risen by about 30 percent. However, Atlanta voters in 2016 approved a 1 percent Municipal Option Sales Tax (MOST) which dedicates $700 million in funds to improving sewers, stormwater projects and other water-related improvements until 2020.
The city’s water and sewer improvements began under the leadership of Mayor Franklin, resulting in a $4 billion consent decree. Since its inception, MOST funds have provided more than $1 billion towards water and sewer projects. These funds are essential because, each day, the city of Atlanta supplies clean drinking water to more than 1 million people. The 2016 vote made possible an additional $700 million in revenue for four more years.
Atlanta Public Schools Leadership Transition
ACP supported the identification and recruitment of Atlanta Public School Superintendent Dr. Meria Carstarphen and provides mentorship to APS board members.
The ACP helped identify and recruit Dr. Meria Carstarphen as superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools in May 2014. The district was still reeling from a series of 2009 articles in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that led to an investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which in July 2011 found that 44 out of 56 schools cheated on the 2009 CRCT.
A staggering number of principals and teachers were found to have corrected answers entered by students, and the district, at one point, faced losing its accreditation. A few months after Carstarphen’s arrival in Atlanta, the trial of the teachers accused of tampering with students' grades began. On April 1, 2015, 11 of the 12 teachers accused of being involved in the scandal were convicted on racketeering charges.
Carstarphen, who served as Superintendent of the Austin Independent School District from 2009-2014, arrived in Atlanta determined to change the culture of the system. After a period of tumult, she has provided stability, integrity and leadership to the district. She launched Operation Grad Nation, an initiative to not only have its students graduate from high school but also be ready for college and a career. Dr. Carstarphen has also worked to fill vacancies and encourage students to remain in school for the entire school year.
Centers of Hope
The ACP raised more than $1 million in philanthropic funds to reopen the city’s recreation centers and created a task force to develop an overall strategy for youth programs. The ACP also provided pro bono consulting from Boston Consulting Group.
The ACP believes that safe places where children can learn, play and develop character skills are essential in the city of Atlanta. At the height of the Great Recession, many of Atlanta’s recreation centers and pools in some of its most vulnerable neighborhoods were either abandoned or closed due to budget cuts. Many neighborhoods lacked access to safe and structured after-school programs for working, low-income families.
Within a year of taking office in 2010, Mayor Reed secured $3.7 million in city money to reopen, staff and provide basic renovations to all of Atlanta’s 33 shuttered centers. That was just the beginning of Mayor Reed’s fulfillment of a larger vision to turn those recreation centers into Centers of Hope: state-of-the art learning facilities that offer youth programs focused on academic enrichment, leadership, health, technology and community engagement.
With help from the ACP, the city of Atlanta has upgraded computer labs to support academic achievement, upgraded security systems, enhanced playing fields and created new interior designs for the centers, which serve hundreds of children every day across the city.
Martin Luther King Jr. Papers
ACP provided $35 million toward Mayor Shirley Franklin’s purchase of the Morehouse College Collection of Martin Luther King Jr. Papers, returning the historic papers to Atlanta.
In 2006, Mayor Franklin announced a deal to buy the papers of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and keep them in the city of Atlanta, saving them from being sold at auction by Sotheby’s in New York City. Working with the ACP and other community leaders, Mayor Franklin secured a privately financed loan of $32 million - $2 million more than the appraised value - to allow a nonprofit organization to stop the auction and buy the collection from the King family.
ACP member companies such as Delta Air Lines, Coca-Cola, The Home Depot, Turner Broadcasting and Cox Enterprises, as well as prominent citizens such as Tyler Perry and H.J. Russell, all contributed to the effort. Today, the papers are at Morehouse College, the alma mater not only of Dr. King but also his father, grandfather and two sons, Martin III and Dexter.
