City Government

New City Hall Operating Hours

Published

5 years ago

March 20, 2020

Due to the coronavirus outbreak, effective Monday, March 23, the hours that City Hall will be open to the public will change. City Hall will be open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, City Hall staff will be working remotely. All will be available via email or by telephone.

This step was taken to protect our staff, our residents, our business community and visitors who are conducting business with the city. These new hours of operation will remain in effect until further notice.

Please use the city’s website, www.peachtreecornersga.gov, to locate important information. Often you will find the answers to your questions on the city’s website. If you are unsure of which department or person to contact, use the “Search” box near the top right side of the homepage and enter appropriate search terms to assist you.

City Hall staff members are also available by telephone and email. A complete list of city staff with direct telephone numbers and email addresses is located on the city’s website. Use the link at the top of the page labeled “Contact Us” for a complete list. The names are listed alphabetically. You may also use the filter to locate staff members by department.

For general queries regarding Building Permits and Building Inspections:

As City Hall will be operating under restricted hours of operation, we ask that all contractors, permit expeditors, architectural /engineering firms, etc., submitting plans for building construction or land disturbance projects, do so electronically through eplan solutions (https://peachtreecornersga.eps.tech/peachtreecornersga/index.html).

The two days that City Hall will be open for walk-in service, will be dedicated to issuing certificates, picking up approved plans and permits, and to assist our residential customers. For permitting questions, please contact Elaine Cribbs at 470-550-1729 or via email at ecribbs@peachtreecornersga.gov. For questions relating to building inspections, please contact Mark Mitchell by telephone at 678-691-1207 or via email at mmitchell@peachtreecornersga.gov

For Business license questions, applications and payments:

During this time, we strongly encourage businesses to renew their licenses online or by mail. If you have questions regarding renewals, please send an email to businesslicenses@peachtreecornersga.gov or call 678-691-1208 to speak with the city’s business license officer.

Online payments: https://cityofpeachtreecornersga.governmentwindow.com/start.html
Printable Business forms: https://www.peachtreecornersga.gov/businesses/business-taxcertificates

For Code Enforcement queries:

City Hall will only be open on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but Code Enforcement Officers will be conducting their normal field inspections on all five days in order to respond to and handle any issues that arise. The community will still be able to contact Code Enforcement via telephone at 470-395-7026; by email at codeenforcement@peachtreecornersga.gov or by creating a report from the city’s website (https://www.peachtreecornersga.gov/residents/report-anissue-fix-it) or by using the city’s Fix-It app.

For Public Work issues or questions:

During the restricted hours of operation, Public Works or Solid Waste related issues can still be submitted through the PC Fix-it app. For those with a smartphone, this can be downloaded for free searching “PC Fix-it” in your affiliated app store. Those with the “Corners Connect” app can also access the fix-it app directly there. You can also submit a service request using the City’s website at https://www.peachtreecornersga.gov/residents/report-an-issue-fix-it.

As usual, all phone calls to Public Works will be routed to the 24 hours/day call center if the staff is unavailable at the moment. Also, as usual, the staff is available via email addresses at all times, and those addresses are available on the Public Works page. Daily maintenance activities of the city’s infrastructure will continue on a regular basis just as they do during normal operations.

The city made the decision to remain open for two days each week to accommodate the needs of the community and businesses. The City Hall building is being thoroughly cleaned and disinfected daily to ensure the public and city staff is safe during this coronavirus outbreak.

If you have questions regarding any non-city related matters, please refer to the “Who Do I Call” list which is located under the “Residents” tab. Topics include emergency water repair, excessive noise complaints, property taxes, stray animals, etc.

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City Government

Councilmember Eric Christ: 2025 Peachtree Corners Municipal Elections

Published

4 weeks ago

March 3, 2025

Peachtree Corners Magazine staff

A white man with glasses, wearing a dark colored jacket walking in the road alongside a line of vintage cars.

Source: Peachtree Corners Post 2 Councilmember Eric Christ’s recent newsletter.

Peachtree Corners Municipal Elections Tuesday, November 4 in white font on a blue background.

On Tuesday, November 4, we will have municipal elections here in the City of Peachtree Corners for three council seats. [And] for the first time since 2013, there will be a state-wide election on the same day as our city general election.

The state-wide election is to fill two seats on the Public Service Commission, which regulates Georgia Power and other utilities.

For the PSC election, the Gwinnett County Board of Elections will have all 156 county precincts open on November 4. Historically, Peachtree Corners has had a single voting location for city elections — at City Hall.

If we do the same this year, citizens who want to vote in both the PSC and the City Council elections will need to go to two places to cast their ballots.

A few years ago, I convinced the County Board of Elections to remove their prohibition against the Gwinnett Elections Department managing city elections. (Every county surrounding Gwinnett already offered this service to their cities.)

This means there is the potential of adding our city council elections to the county ballot.

I would like to hear your thoughts on the pros and cons of combining our city council races with the county’s for this year’s elections.

Please complete my brief survey by clicking here.

To sign up for Councilmember Christ’s newsletter or find him on social media, visit linktr.ee/votechrist.

You can read more from his latest newsletter updates here and here.

City Government

City of Peachtree Corners Receives Distinguished Budget Presentation Award

Published

2 months ago

January 31, 2025

Peachtree Corners Magazine staff

For the eighth year in a row, the City of Peachtree Corners has been esteemed with the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award. This award was presented by the Georgia Finance Officers Association (GFOA) for the City’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget submission.

The award represents a significant achievement by the entity. It reflects the commitment of the governing body and staff to meeting the highest principles of governmental budgeting. To receive the budget award, the entity had to satisfy nationally recognized guidelines for effective budget presentation. These guidelines are designed to assess how well an entity’s budget serves as a:

policy document
financial plan
operations guide
communications device

Budget documents must be rated “proficient” in all four categories and in the fourteen mandatory criteria within those categories to receive the award.

Certificate of Recognition

When a Distinguished Budget Presentation Award is granted to an entity, a Certificate of Recognition for Budget Presentation is also presented to the individual(s) or department designated as being primarily responsible for having achieved the award.

“Congratulations to the entire finance team on receiving this award,” said City Manager Brian Johnson.

“This recognition is a testament to our team’s hard work, professionalism and commitment to excellence.”

There are over 1,700 participants in the Budget Awards Program. The most recent Budget Award recipients, along with their corresponding budget documents, are posted quarterly on GFOA’s website.

Award recipients have pioneered efforts to improve the quality of budgeting and provide an excellent example for other governments throughout North America.

About the GFOA

The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) advances excellence in government finance by providing best practices, professional development, resources and practical research for more than 21,000 members and the communities they serve.

About the City of Peachtree Corners, Georgia

As the heart of what is being called #SiliconOrchard in the metro Atlanta region, Peachtree Corners is a vibrant municipality that’s home to more than 45,000 residents and an innovation hub that houses some of the world’s most disruptive technology companies.

As the United States’ premier smart city powered by real-world connected infrastructure and 5G, Peachtree Corners serves as the model for how government and private industry can better collaborate to create a better future for society and business.

From the world’s first deployment of teleoperated e-scooters to fully autonomous shuttles being utilized by actual residents, and from a solar roadway to the largest electric vehicle charging hub in the region, Peachtree Corners is where the most future-forward Internet of Things (IoT) and sustainable technologies come to life for the benefit of its people and the world.

For more information, visit peachtreecornersga.gov.

City Government

BRACK: How one city operates without property tax

Published

2 months ago

January 30, 2025

Courtesy of Elliott Brack's Gwinnett Forum

Peachtree Corners City Hall in the evening with flag display, signage and lights.

Some people lament paying taxes. They don’t understand that taxes allow us to live in a more civilized manner, helping and protecting us all along. That’s why I don’t mind paying reasonable taxes for the safety of everyday living.

Many don’t recognize it, but you are often paying a small tax without realizing it as you go about your everyday business….but it’s not called a tax.

White man with white hair and glasses wearing a suit with a red tie, smiling. Beside the image is the name Ellliott Brack in all-caps blue letters on a white background.

It’s called a “fee.” Each time you pay your power or utility bill and cable bill, your insurance premium, when you rent a hotel room or car…and other ways…you are providing a few cents or dollars to help fund mostly local government.

The newly-minted City of Mulberry (and previously Peachtree Corners) will run its government without taxing property owners paying a tax to fund its operations. How so? Entirely from fees.

Let’s visit what the other city without property taxes, Peachtree Corners, is doing.

White man with short brown hair and facial hair wearing a suit, smiling at the camera with an American flag behind him. — Salley

We talked with Cory Salley, who is the finance director for Peachtree Corners. He sent along a graphic which shows where Peachtree Corners gets its funding, as well as how it is spent. (See graphic.)

For the most part, Peachtree Corners is funded by fees. The biggest comes from Georgia Power Company, paying $2.8 million in fees for the city for 2025. Other utilities include $450,000 from Atlanta Gas Light Company; $250,000 from Comcast; $70,000 from Direct TV; and $42,000 from AT&T. (That last figure was interesting, in effect, showing how few people have land-line telephones anymore.) Altogether, utility fees brought in $4.3 million in Peachtree Corners for 2024.

Another bucket of fees include $3.8 million in insurance fees. This comes in one check from the Department of Revenue, which collects insurance fees for all cities.

Each business in Peachtree Corners pays an occupational business license tax. With lots of professional offices in the city, these businesses contribute $4.4 million to the city coffers.

Infographic of the FY2025 Budget at a Glance for Peachtree Corners

Other fee collections for 2024:

Alcoholic licenses and sales: $1 million.
Zoning and land development permits: $1.4 million.
SPLOST funds on sales within Peachtree Corners: $10 million.
Automobile and vehicle purchases: $1.7 million. This is interesting: no matter where you buy an automobile in Georgia, part of the sales tax reverts to the city where you live.

Then there are other funds coming to the city; stormwater fees, grants, solid waste, etc. Altogether, it added up to approximately a $40 million income to run the city.

Some specifics and the way they are figured:

Real estate transfer taxes: This tax is imposed at the rate of $1 on the first $1,000 and 10 cents on each additional $10 on any conveyance of real property when the value of the interest transferred exceeds $100.
Distilled Spirits—up to 22 cents per liter on package sales and up to 3 percent of the sale price of a drink on sales to the public;
Wine—up to 22 cents per liter; and
Malt Beverages—up to $6.00 per bulk container (no more than 15.5 gallons) to be paid by the wholesaler and up to 5 cents per 12 ounces when sold in bottles, cans or other containers.
A municipality may levy a business license tax on depository financial institutions (such as a bank.) The maximum rate of this tax is 0.25 percent.
Hotel-motel tax: a municipality may levy a hotel-motel tax at a rate of 3 percent or less or at a rate of 5, 6, 7, or 8 percent. (Yes, let the out-of-towner pay!)

Perhaps this gives you an idea of how a city, like Mulberry in the future, can operate without property taxes.

Have a comment? Send to: elliott@elliottbrack

Written by Elliott Brack

This material is presented with permission from Elliott Brack’s GwinnettForum, an online site published Tuesdays and Fridays. To become better informed about Gwinnett, subscribe (at no cost) at GwinnettForum.