Editor’s note: Amid updates of early voting, it was pointed out that the explanation of what appears on the ballot for the March 18, 2025 election for the City of Cedartown was inaccurate in saying that voters were approving a particular “TAD” or Tax Allocation District. This is meant to provide a better explanation of what is actually on the ballot and what powers are being granted to the Cedartown City Commission when they vote yes or no on the question. -KtE

When Cedartown voters head to the polls over the coming days (or have already,) they might be tempted to give the Cedartown City Commission a particular power: to negotiate and setup a Tax Allocation District.

The question on the ballot in particular is phrased in this way:

“Shall the Act be approved which authorizes the City of Cedartown, Georgia, to exercise all redevelopment powers allowed under the ‘Redevelopment Powers Law,’ as it may be amended from time to time?”

And here is how it works:

The City of Cedartown is seeking to create a Tax Allocation District, or TAD, for a project that would bring a rumored national grocery store chain to the city limits – in particular over by the current commercial district anchored by Home Depot and Walmart.

In order for the city to setup this deal, they need the power to create the TAD. So officials are seeking the redevelopment powers to create one, powers that are strictly regulated by the state in how property taxes are allocated and used by municipalities in the state.

Those redevelopment powers have to be granted via a resolution approved by the state legislature, and then approved by voters since a portion of the developer’s property taxes get locked into a specific fund for a specific amount of time. In this case, the TAD.

So when voters are granting their vote for these redevelopment powers, they are giving the opportunity for this TAD and any future redevelopment-related districts the city wants to create in and around the city limits.

Only Cedartown voters are getting the opportunity to vote on this resolution, and only the City of Cedartown will have these particular redevelopment powers.

The City of Rockmart and Polk County’s government would have to go through the same process in order to obtain and use these redevelopment powers to create opportunities and negotiate these kinds of TAD agreements with future commercial partners.

Officials hope that the potential deal on the table that would utilize the first TAD negotiated by the City of Cedartown to bring new development to the Davis Road corner and elsewhere.