City Government
Advocating in a Different Way
Lorri Christopher will remain active in the community but wants to pave the way for the next generation of local leadership.
When it comes to Peachtree Corners City Post 5 Councilmember Lorri Christopher, her actions speak for her. Not one to raise a ruckus, her four decades as a resident of the area before it became a city had been chock full of leadership in business, education, and community service.
With all she has accomplished, it shouldn’t be a surprise that this 80-year-old woman with the stamina of the Energizer Bunny has decided she won’t be running for re-election when her term expires in 2024.
“I’m not going to stop advocating for the city,” she said. “I’ll still be Lorri Christopher. I just won’t be a city council member.”
A life filled with achievements and successes
Christopher’s bio on the Peachtree Corners website points to a career brimming with numerous titles. Here are a few:
- Principal in CAP Associates, a human resources consulting firm
- Computer Information Systems (CIS) Faculty Program and IA Director at Gwinnett Technical College
- Trustee of the Gwinnett Senior Leadership program
- Former IT Project Manager for the 1996 Olympics
- High school Math and Science teacher,
- Management Information System (MIS) Director and CIS Program Chair at Trident College
- COO of Atlanta Desktop
- Co-president of United Mortgage Company
- Marketing Director of Right Associates
- Vice President at Midland Associates
- Vice President of Finance and Management Information System (MIS) for Edwards, Inc.
- Marketing and technical leadership positions at DCA and Burroughs/Unisys, and
- Founding Director of Paces Bank & Trust.
Christopher has been well-recognized through the years. She is a recipient of the 21st Century Award from The International Alliance, Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) award, and the Triumph Inspiration 21st Century Woman Award. Christopher is also a member of the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) Academy of Women Achievers.
Her accomplishments include service to the community, business, and charity organizations. Christopher served on the leadership committee for the Center for the Study of the Presidency, chaired the Gwinnett County March of Dimes, and served on the Georgia Alliance for Children Board.
She is a member of several chambers of commerce, including the Gwinnett, Hispanic, Southwest Gwinnett, and Atlanta chambers, as well as the Gwinnett Village Alliance Board. Christopher is a past officer of Fox Hill homeowners’ association and a member-volunteer for United Peachtree Corners Civic Association (UPCCA), Peachtree Corners Business Association (PCBA), and the Peachtree Corners Festival.
Then there’s her education. Currently a Ph.D. candidate in Information Systems at Nova Southeastern University, Christopher holds an MBA in Business and Finance from Emory University, an MBA in Global Ecommerce from Georgia State University, and a BA in Mathematics and Chemistry from the State University of New York. She has additional graduate studies in CIS at Georgia Tech and Education at Hofstra University — and she holds a number of professional certifications.
“I worked in Peachtree Corners in the 70s and 80s in the Summit Building. Our technology firm, Burroughs/Unisys, was located there where we developed financial applications for the world …we had over 400 people in that facility,” she told Peachtree Corners Magazine in a 2019 podcast. “So, I’ve seen Tech Park when it was in its heyday. I’ve seen it since, and it is so exciting with what’s happening now.”
She added that seeing the vision that she and several others had for the area during the cityhood movement more than a decade ago now coming to fruition makes the hard work worth it.
A vision that’s blossoming
Besides the business growth and economic development, Christopher said she is proud that the city has remained one of the few that doesn’t collect property taxes from its homeowners. And instead of building a city hall right off the bat, Peachtree Corners officials chose to turn the Town Center property into a place for people to gather and be together.
“We’ve worked really hard at keeping the millage zero and being fiscally responsible,” she said.
Christopher is a pioneer in her own right, blazing a path in Information Technology when women were often relegated to administrative support roles instead of heading departments.
After college, she’d gone back home to Charleston, S.C., and was offered a position as Chief Financial Officer and IT Director for a chain of stores where she’d worked as a cashier in her youth. Even back then, Christopher realized that she didn’t have to tell anyone what she could do — she just had to show them.
That’s what she hopes for the future of Peachtree Corners. She doesn’t want future leaders judged by anything more than their credentials.
It’s that kind of stewardship that Christopher said she’s looking for in her successor. She has someone in mind but insists that she’ll back anyone who has the knowledge, passion, and energy to continue the work that was begun more than a decade ago.
Christopher hopes someone will bring Peachtree Corners into its next phase with diversity and inclusion. “I’d like there to be more people who don’t look like me involved in city government,” she said. “I think it’s important that we do everything we can to make sure that we’re an inclusive city.”
Passing the baton
From the outside looking in, many people may not see the pockets of need in this seemingly affluent area.
Christopher would like the city to start receiving federal funds to pay for things like a homeless shelter. “We don’t have a plan for people that are indigent,” she said recalling a section of Spring Drive that had no streetlights for seven years. “It took too long to get lights there and that subdivision has over 200 homes,” she said.
Even though it’s impressive to gather a list of titles, Christopher stressed she does what she does because it’s the right thing to do — and she wants to see the city continue doing what’s right.
“I don’t want to be one of those people who die in office,” she said. “The City of Peachtree Corners is going to go on long, long after I’m gone. I see my decision as making room for another person.”
Photos by George Hunter
Source: Peachtree Corners Post 2 Councilmember Eric Christ’s recent newsletter.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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