At a May 8 meeting, Beltline, Inc. board members previewed the draft of a roughly $172 million fiscal year 2025 budget set to be voted on in June.
The annual budget is an 11.8 percent increase from last year’s and part of a steady climb from 2020’s $28.6 million budget. The $18 million change is thanks to the tax allocation district, federal funding, grants, philanthropy and the special service district. As the budget grows each year though, so does the scope of the BeltLine’s goals.
About $69 million will come from the tax allocation district, a region established in 2005 where money gathered above a certain threshold will go to major BeltLine projects. Another $49 million in funding will come from philanthropy, $31 million from bonds and $19.6 million from grants. The bulk of the money flow is aimed at design and construction — 49 percent of the budget, or $84.5 million, is allocated to ongoing projects. Smaller portions will go to affordable housing and real estate, 12 percent and 23 percent, respectively. Some money is still unallocated.
“We have about 38 million in the bank yet to be decided on projects that we’ll be working very quickly on to decide what’s the right use of those dollars,” BeltLine, Inc. board chair John Somerhalder said.
BeltLine, Inc. CEO Clyde Higgs also presented his “CEO Report” looking at the vision and progress of the organization in light of future funding. In recent months, officials have met with the United States Department of Transportation about the upcoming Murphy Crossing development and announced that 18 miles of continuous trail will be ready in 2026.
“85 percent of the Beltline will be completed or under construction by the end of this year,” Higgs said. “That is significant for us, and again, I don’t want to let my monotone style belie the fact that we are in a strong position when it comes to trail construction along the Beltline.”
Higgs said housing affordability is still a key focus, though. The BeltLine has hit 67 percent of the 5,600 units of affordable housing it aims to have by 2030. Officials expect a total of $230 million investment in accessible accommodations through 2030.
“We think when we hit 2030, we will exceed that goal,” Higgs said.
He credited that housing increase to almost 100 acres of recent land acquisition.
“For the future health of our city and having those sites under public control is key,” Higgs said. “Not only having them under public control, but ultimately making sure that we are programming that so that we can actually get units out of the ground.”
The BeltLine projects all fall under the Strategic Implementation Plan, a guiding map for the organization that runs through 2030 that was created in 2013. The 22 mile trail system is set to be finished by the end of the decade, but officials say the organization is on track to complete several major goals around housing and development by the deadline.
BeltLine CEO said the organization must start to consider what it will do with the strategic plan and tax allocation district as they get to “post-2030” and finish out primary goals.
“This is a roadmap of consideration,” Higgs said.
Please no streetcars on the Beltline – they are from the 1900’s and are not a solution.
hi there, you’re wrong about this! the beltline has always been designed as a rail corridor — the current state, where it exists as a leisure & recreation area, leave too many people in atlanta out. connecting the system to the heavy rail lines and continuing to connect inner-city neighborhoods is what the city needs – not playgrounds for the wealthy
If we call it light rail and point to Paris, Amsterdam, and Barcelona, will that make you feel better? I don’t understand the logic. It’s an all-electric, high capacity, reliable, proven, easily serviceable form of transportation. It is used all over the world. This is a slam dunk project. Why would you want to ignore all of that? What other “solution” do you think will outperform this?
Patiently waiting on the streetcar to start construction! None of the beltine is complete without it. It’s been studied, it’s been funded, 70% of people voted in favor of it. It’s essential.
Tell me about the funded part. Show me where there are enough funds available to build out the streetcar. They estimated it at $3.65b ten years ago. It’s conservatively $9b now. Good luck.
Well we’re not building it all at once. You don’t have to pre-fund the whole project to begin work. The last cost was like $230M for the first segment, and we already have that $$.
Great new information, thanks for the details…