The BeltLine has insufficient funds to complete the remaining 15 miles of BeltLine trail, and is asking City Council to approve legislation for a new property tax called a Special Services District (SSD). This tax would be placed on commercial property and apartment buildings within a half-mile to mile of the BeltLine (existing & planned). Our community has been paying substantial taxes to the BeltLine for 16 years, but the northwest segment is still last on their list for construction. As written, the legislation does not guarantee that any funds raised in the Upper Westside will be spent here. 

Our business community has already contributed over $70M in tax revenue to the BeltLine project without seeing any construction or even trail design. Even with this proposed additional SSD tax, the northwest segment remains last in line for planning, design, and construction. 

To be clear: we want to see the northwest BeltLine built! However, the BeltLine SSD tax proposal has loopholes that must be closed to ensure the northwestern portion is built with this new tax revenue. The Upper Westside CID has drafted a resolution addressing these loopholes, which you can read here.

BeltLine is hosting a “Northside BeltLine” Zoom information session on March 1st from 6-8PM where you can ask questions and learn more about the SSD. All information sessions are also shared on Facebook Live

City Council will be voting on this legislation in March. To help us ensure that the Northwest BeltLine has dedicated SSD funding, please reach out to hello@upperwestsideatl.org.