City Government

Meet the City Officials who Keep Peachtree Corners Humming: Diana Wheeler Feature

Published

3 years ago

October 20, 2021

Mark Woolsey

Photos by George Hunter

Consider a high-performance vehicle — bright, shiny and powerful. It leaps ahead quickly when it needs to, but can also settle back to a comfortable cruising speed. It’s nimble, able to turn on a dime or smoothly reverse direction, if need be.

Ever wished for a vehicle like that? The good news is that if you live within the city limits of Peachtree Corners, you already have one.

Gwinnett County’s largest and newest city has a most efficient “vehicle” for governing its home turf — a staff helmed by experienced department heads who put their shoulders to the wheel, are adept at balancing the sometimes-clashing interests of residents, the business community and other constituencies and aren’t afraid to embrace unconventional approaches.

Community Development Director- Diana Wheeler

If you want to huddle with someone who knows the City of Peachtree Corners from the ground up, speak to Diana Wheeler, the community development director. She has the distinction of being the city’s first employee, even before the onboarding of a city manager.

Here’s what happened: Peachtree Corners commenced operations on July 1, 2012. Wheeler, who had been community development director for the City of Alpharetta for almost 19 years, departed that position at roughly the same time.

“Somebody read that I had left Alpharetta and I got a phone call and they asked me if I wanted to help with the start of a new city,” she said. “That was one of the few things I hadn’t actually done before.”

Fast forward to today and Wheeler is well settled into her role.

“I oversee community development,” she explained. “That’s all of the building, all of the planning , all of the code enforcement. So that’s most everything that comes out of the ground and is man-made, other than road and bridge-type public projects.”

Her job requires her to be well-versed in a plethora of different kinds of development: residential, commercial, industrial and institutional. Economic development is also on her watch, although she has a staffer who handles that area specifically.

It’s quite a smorgasbord of responsibilities. And it actually represents a widening of her original career goal.

“I started out to be an architect and I have a degree in architecture and urban design from Columbia,” Wheeler said. “I discovered that I really liked urban planning and designing spaces more than buildings. So then my focus evolved away from individual buildings, more into city planning.”

In pursuing that, she follows the script of the city’s 20-year comprehensive plan that was developed after extensive public input, visioning sessions and city council direction.

She noted that while the city is mainly built out, there are considerable opportunities for redevelopment. That’s led to incentive programs for developers, including one under which those putting together mixed-use developments can earn a way to make their projects more residentially dense in return for instituting value-added improvements from a list developed by the city.

That whole landscape has come with a number of challenges, including dealing with inherited rules and regulations from the days of Gwinnett County control. “What we are trying to do is enhance the quality of life by managing growth,” she asserted.

Focusing on both the larger picture and its component parts constitutes a major motivator in Wheeler’s job.

Take the Town Center concept, which emerged from community meetings and citizen input and became an integral — and literal — part of the landscape. The plan being a 20-year document, she pointed out, the project didn’t come together overnight but “we got to work implementing that vision and it took six years to make it happen, but it’s here now.”

The enthusiasm and passion Wheeler brings when talking about that and other projects is palpable. She’s not a fan of bureaucracy, but of results.

“I’m really fascinated by the projects and all the fun stuff that comes with them and I have had the opportunity to do a lot of that in Peachtree Corners,” she shared. She added that two factors played into that experience: one, the Corners status as a new city and the other, the City Council’s willingness to try new approaches.

When not wearing her development hats, Wheeler said she likes gardening, “and like a lot of people during our COVID break, I have refined my baking abilities.”

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Mark Woolsey

City Government

Councilmember Eric Christ: 2025 Peachtree Corners Municipal Elections

Published

3 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.